


Midnight Stars

by IcyStarlight



Category: Tales of Vesperia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-14
Updated: 2016-06-14
Packaged: 2018-06-02 04:30:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 22,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6551080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IcyStarlight/pseuds/IcyStarlight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Flynn Scifo's world is changed when a man by the name of Yuri Lowell moves into town. The two of them will fall for one another in more ways than one as their relationship progresses. Yet the future doesn't seem to be shining bright as storm clouds loom in the distance. Both Yuri and Flynn have a past that's out to get them and what's with these weird things happening at Blastia labs? When you can't out run what you've done there's only one thing left to do. Stand and fight.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Fall for you

**Author's Note:**

> AN: I said I would write Fluri but I don’t remember what I was supposed to write about so I just wrote some Fluri anyways bc why not? Also bless Repede you’re doing good work son.

Late August mornings were the perfect time for a run. Sunday mornings at five am when the sun was just rising. No one was around. Peaceful and quiet along the lakefront. The only sounds being birds chirping and the ever present, low bustle of the city that never seemed to sleep. Flynn was certain no one could ruin this. 

Turning down the lake path, Flynn closed his eyes. Just for a second. The rising sun felt great on his face as he ran into the breeze. Today was going to be great.

“Repede wait!” A nearby voice cut into his peace, but not so much as the sudden wall at his knees. 

“Whoa!” Stopped in mid-stride, he could feel himself falling forward and Flynn braced for facial impact with the ground because he couldn’t stop his arms from flailing about. 

Except he never hit it.

Sure his face had hit something hard, but the ground wasn’t firm yet soft. Plus the ground didn’t move. He hoped he didn’t have a concussion. 

“Uh, are you okay?” Wait a minute… The ground didn’t talk!

Eyes snapping upward his gaze me charcoal. He couldn’t help the blush that flooded his face at the realization that this man’s abs had broken his fall. More specifically they had cushioned his face. Talk about embarrassing. 

Blindly flailing his arms he tried to back up only to proceed to cop a feel of those abs and Flynn was sure he had molested this guy and fully embarrassed himself. Why did he have to act like such an idiot in front of the hot guy? Was his luck really that bad? Wishing he could die from embarrassment he rubbed the back of his neck. Maybe if he could it would save him from this situation.

“Ye-Yeah I’m, I’m fine. Thanks” Why was he stuttering? Was this man really so debilitating? Or was it just his looks? Flynn found himself unable to look away from the night against the sun in from of him. 

“No problem. After all it was my dog’s fault” –he glared at the dog at his side- “that you fell in the first place. Repede.” 

The dog in question barked in response and simply waged his tail. 

“It’s fine really” He steeled himself and turned back to his savior’s gaze. The breeze blew raven locks to the side, and if the abs hadn’t given it away, there was no doubt about it. This man was clearly beautiful. 

Repede barked somewhere behind Flynn, but he couldn’t tear his gaze away from those midnight eyes. 

“Yuri”

“Huh?”

“That’s my name, Yuri Lowell” With a quick smirk, he was off after Repede. Flynn could only watch as the two of them faded into the distance. 

“Yuri Lowell” Whispering to himself, Flynn found himself staring dumbstruck as he would refuse to acknowledge what most would call it. It was way too early to deal with this right now. Huffing he turned and continued his run with his eyes open this time. That had been enough excitement for one morning. 

_______________________________________________________________________________________

“Dammit Repede! Why did you do that to the poor guy?” Yuri paced in the kitchen as he waited for his toast to cook. 

‘Because you ignored me to stare at him’ Repede’s gaze said it all. Stubborn dog. 

“And then you ran off before I could even get his name!” The toasted dinged and he stormed over to it. Repede barked in annoyance as he put strawberry jam on the toast. Cramming the toast in his mouth he turned back around to argue with Repede some more. He just didn’t understand. “Wook -You’re with me more often than not- I cwan do oter tings omeimes!” 

‘Staring at a stranger’s ass is not an acceptable form of doing other things, but I’m sure that’s what you were thinking about’ 

“WAT WULD YU KN’W?” Yuri pointed his half eaten toast accusingly at Repede who merely barked in return. “Yeah – tats wat I tought!” 

 

“I'm honestly not even surprised to find you conversing with your dog anymore. It’s normal to me now. Do you know how weird that is? Because it’s pretty damm weird”

“J’dy” Turning towards the doorway, he swallowed the last of his toast, “You’re up early”

"Eh I’m just here for food then I’m crawling back into bed” She walked past Yuri towards the fridge still pajama clad. Made sense Judy never rose before noon unless she absolutely had to. “Plus you arguing with Repede woke me up enough to convince myself I was hungry” 

“How can you eat that filth?” Yuri gestured to the cold pizza she was currently carrying on her way back towards the stairs. 

“Because I’m strong and you’re just a weak child” 

“Stop eating upstairs! It’s uncivilized!” Yuri called up the stair after her retreating form.

“My house, my rules and who is graciously letting you stay here and ruin Karol until you get yourself sorted?” 

“Ugggghhh, you are”

“That’s what I thought~” 

Grumbling to himself, Yuri pulled his camera bag of the counter and trudged back to his makeshift room. Maybe one day he’d win an argument with Judy. One could dream right?

 

Because photography alone didn’t pay the bills alone, the next morning Yuri was back at work. And by work it really was supposed to be more of temporary job till he could find a better one. 

Bright Star Café was a quaint, little place that was hidden away in the city. Aside for morning chaos, a small lunch rush, and a few staggering tourist; it didn’t get many strangers outside of their regulars. 

Though he’d only been working here for a week or so Yuri seemed to think his hypothesis was pretty accurate. But as the small bell above the door jingled he was reminded that he never accounted for outliers. As behind Rita a scientist at Blastia labs, which was a company nearby, was the guy from yesterday. Rita was a regular but he’d never seen the blond before yesterday’s… incident by the lake. 

Although he did clean up nice. That white collar button up with the sleeves rolled up and the royal blue vest with the nice dress pants and shiny black shoes. The whole nine yards right here. Not to say he hadn’t looked good in the form fitting tee-shirt and shorts yesterday. He most certainly had. But now he looked even better than yesterday. 

“Morning Rita! Morning Flynn!” Estelle’s, his coworker, cheery greeting dragged him back to reality. 

Flynn. Even his name was hot. 

“Morning Estelle” Rita gave a small wave and returned to typing vigorously on her phone.

 

“Here Rita your usual” She didn’t even look up to take the cup from Yuri. But she did look up at Estelle as she leaned on the counter.

“He’s a fast learner, nice staff choice Estelle”

 

“Thanks Rita” Estelle giggled with flushed cheeks. “And your usual Flynn?” She didn’t wait for an answer but turned around to make it. 

Usual? He was a usual? This job was one of the best decisions of his life and it was no longer just for the free coffee and snacks you could get. He turned from Estelle to get payment from Rita and Flynn. 

“Yuri, right? I don’t believe I ever had the chance to properly introduce myself. I’m Flynn Scifo, I work with Rita at the lab.” He held out a hand which Yuri shook. He hoped his palms weren’t sweaty. That would be a real damper on this whole thing. He met Flynn’s regard and watched his eyes sparkle like the sea. 

“Here you go Flynn” Estelle broke the moment as she handed him a tall, black as night, cup of coffee topped with an almost unhealthy amount of whip cream. 

“Thanks Estellise, I really appreciate it” Flynn smiled at her and Yuri felt his heart race. He wanted to be the reason behind that blinding smile. 

 

“Well Flynn, it’ll be a real treat to see you every day” Yuri thought nonchalantly. Shit he had said that out loud hadn’t he. His answer came in the form of Flynn spit out scalding coffee and whip cream right at him. 

 

“Smooth move Scifo, but I don’t think that’s how you tell someone whether you spit or swallow” 

“RITA!” Estelle’s quiet yet clearly shocked voice did nothing to deepen the red that threatened to dominate Yuri’s face. At least it wasn’t as bad as Flynn’s face. His face was the color of Estelle’s hair. Still Yuri wouldn’t miss his moment. 

 

“I’d lick the whip cream off your face but that’s more of a third date thing at least.” Smooth as cream. Yes. Nailed it.

“YURI!” 

“Estelle’s right lover boys both of you can flirt on your own time, come on Scifo we have work to do” Pulling him out by the back of his collar, both Rita and Flynn left the shop. The entire way out Flynn stared at Yuri who, in turn, stared at the whip cream on Flynn’s face and then proceeded to lick his lips. 

Flynn’s face was redder than he ever thought possible. But he still managed to wink at Yuri before he was out of sight. 

Looks like this place wasn’t so bad after all. 

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Over the next couple of weeks Flynn managed not to embarrass himself in front of Yuri. Thankfully because he had already done it enough over the course of their first two meetings. Yet as Estelle dragged everyone to a nearby forest preserve for a picnic, in Estelle fashion, Flynn hoped his luck would hold true. 

Yuri disappeared into the forest at some point with his camera and Repede. Karol, Judith’s younger brother, dragged the rest of the group into playing something like kickball or whatever it’s called. 

Repede trotted out of the forest, alone, about a half hour later. He padded up to Flynn and barked. He then turned heel and started back to the forest, pausing to look back at Flynn. Flynn figured that in Repede language he was supposed to follow.

“Go on and save the princess Flynn. He needs his knight in shining armor” Rita shooed him as Judith cackled in the background. Well why not right? What could Yuri have gotten himself into this time? Sighing Flynn started after Repede hoping Rita hadn’t seen his blush because he’d never live it down if she had. 

 

Yuri was stuck in a tree.

Yuri. Lowell. Was. Stuck. In. A. Motherfucking. Tree. 

Flynn was trying and failing to contain his laughter. “Hey, Hey Yuri?”

“What Flynn?”

“Didn’t think you had planned on STICKing around! If you had wanted to BRANCH into a new lifestyle you shouldn’t just LEAF us in the dark!” This was it. This was how he died. Of laughter. What a great way to go. 

“Are you done now?”

“Sorry I’m done I won’t just LEAF you hanging there!”

“Flynn. Please. Act mature”

“Alright I swear I’m done, I’m done. Just let me gather my bearings and PLANT my ROOTS!” 

“FLYNN WWWHHHHYYYY? WHY MUST YOU HURT ME LIKE THIS?” 

“Because Yuri-“

“FLYNN NO!”

“You’re the poor SAP who got STUMPed in the tree, one could say you were even PINE-ing to be up there. Alright I’m done now. Heh, I’m done now”

“Alright so if you could just catch my camera bag I’ll be able to climb down without worry”

“Are you really going to throw your camera down here?”

“Yes because I trust you to catch it”

“Alright then tell me when you’re going to-” A bag suddenly was falling towards him and he caught it right at the last second by the strap. “Throw it” 

“What was that?” 

“Nothing, nothing at all. Nothing at all” Well that was a close one. Nothing like ruining the thing you had with a hot guy because you broke his really expensive camera. 

Slowly but surely, Yuri made his way down the tree. To be fair Flynn did consider it to be a rather tall tree, probably the tallest in the area. Why the hell was Yuri in the tree in the first place? On second thought with Yuri, he was probably better off not knowing. 

A sharp CRACK brought him out of his thoughts as he turned to see Yuri dangling by his jacket a good ten feet in the air still. Repede barked and Flynn could almost hear the ‘you stupid idiot’ in it. Which they were both clearly thinking. 

“Repede if you would please hold the camera bag for me so I can save you idiot master” He asked politely as Repede took the bag from him in his mouth. 

“This idiot master resents that!” 

“Well the idiot master was the one who got himself stuck in a tree!” Seriously how did Repede put up with this? Yuri always getting himself in trouble. “Alright if you shimmy out of your jacket and fall I’ll catch you”

“No way not only am I very high up and not a fan of falling, its cold out and this is my favorite jacket” Yuri stubbornly crossed his arms, a surprising feat while from a tree branch.

It was not a victory to be celebrated as another resounding CRACK echoed and Yuri was suddenly falling at Flynn who was very much unprepared to catch Yuri at the moment. But Flynn’s luck just happened to pull him through as he caught Yuri bridal style. 

Even if his knees did buckle under the weight and force suddenly thrusted onto him.  
Yet he remained steady as an oak as Yuri clutched on for dear life to his jacket and Flynn realized he could get used to this. “Hey, I knew you were falling for me but this was not what I had in mind”

“Wow Flynn. I’m getting SYCAMORE and more of your awful sense of humor. Wait don’t drop- HEY!” Flynn dropped him and his sorry ass. What had he gotten himself into? “You deserved that”

“Alright I won’t argue with you there, but can I at least get a kiss to make it better?” Flynn was grateful that this time he didn’t have any coffee to spit out because doing it once was enough of an embarrassment. 

But before he got to answer he was falling forwards yet again in a surprising turn of events that really weren’t surprising because he should’ve seen this coming.  
Sure enough he found himself face to abs with Yuri Lowell once again.

“Nice of you to drop by, do you plan to stay for a while because no shirts is a fourth date thing at least.” 

“Oh shut up and kiss me you loser”


	2. That's Debatable

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Yeah I just had to continue this bc I’m slowly building an entire fucking plot line in my head rip me. Now back to these nerds and as for what I’m doing who the fuck knows but I like it so ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

Yuri would never admit it out loud but he was lowkey freaking out. Flynn was coming over for dinner in all of ten minutes and he was still not ready at all. Sure dinner was almost done, the house was clean, Judy and Karol were out, and hell, Repede had even gotten a bath. There was one small problem and by small problem it was a huge problem. Something that was going to ruin this whole perfect evening he had planned out.

His. Damm. Hair. 

It would not cooperate at all! He had tried everything under the sun. He just wanted it to act like normal and to leave it down so he could look nice for his date. Was it really too much to ask for? Apparently it was as he was about five seconds from cutting it off when he heard his phone ring. The caller id read Estelle. Thank fucking god. Picking up the phone he tried to keep his panic under control, “Estelle I need your help right now!” 

So much for under control.

“What’s that Yuri?”

“Flynn. Date. Ten minutes. Hair. Not. Working.”

“Oh! Do you need help? I’m on my way home from Bright Star, I can have it fixed in five minutes or less!”

“Please”

“I’ll be there in under two minutes with some cookies from the café, your date will not fail!” And with that she hung up on him in a very un-Estelle like manner. Wait his phone was ringing and it was Estelle calling back, “Hello! I never said hello or goodbye last time I called so hello and goodbye times two! See you soon!” 

For all her kindness Estelle did have some weird quirks. 

Okay good, hair problem solved and SHIT HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE WATCHING THE FOOD!

Sprinting full force towards the kitchen he barely managed to stay up right as his socks slid made him slid across the floor. Yanking open the oven he prayed to the force of dates to bless him. The food was fine. Thank you date force. Thank you.   
He had just set it on the stove when he heard the doorbell. Estelle was a fucking blessing. 

Speed walking, not running, speed walking to the door he came face to face with not only Estelle but an annoyed Rita as well. The latter who didn’t look up from her phone and proceeded to give him a heart attack. “Flynn is about two minutes away. I saw him on the street”

“SHIT”  
“RITA!” He and Estelle shouted at the same time, “Rita you have to distract him!”

Rita just gave him one of her looks, “What’s in it for me?” 

“I’ll cook you one meal a day for a week!”

“Breakfast, I’ll send you my menu, deliver it to the lab before you go to work and you have yourself a deal Yuri” She stretched out her hand to shake on it. 

“But-“ 

“Flynn doesn’t get there till seven and you’ll be gone by six at the latest. You’ll be fine” 

“Fine deal” They shook on it. Rita turned and was gone. 

 

“I could have made her do it without you having to cook for her you know that right?” Estelle gave him a worried look and he just shrugged.

“You’ll get leftovers and besides I don’t care right now, come on you need to help me.” 

Estelle followed him inside and he waited for her to take off her shoes before he led her to his room. He sat on the bed, handed her a brush, and took the ponytail out of his hair which set free the rat’s nest. 

“You can’t just leave it up?” She quietly inquired from behind him. He could feel her gentle touch trying not to rip out his hair as she forced the brush through his already frizzing hair. 

“No if I leave it up my outfit will not be one hundred percent complete. I don’t know what happened to it! It’s normally so perfect” His poor hair. 

“I, I, the only solution I have is to braid it” 

“Can you at least make it a cool braid?”

“I’ll do my best!” Estelle got to work leaving Yuri to his thoughts.

Time seemed to ooze on as his hair was tugged back into a braid. He tried with all his willpower not to fidget but it was really hard knowing he was on a time constraint. Flynn could always show up early! He did seem like the type to do something like that anyways. How would he explain Estelle still being here? What would Flynn say? He could not stop thinking about all the ways this could go wrong. 

“There! Perfect!” As soon as he felt her move away he jumped up and bear hugged her. This girl was a gift to mankind.

“Thank you so, so much Estelle you are the best!” Rushing towards the mirror he threw on his jacket as he grabbed it from a nearby chai and perfect. He looked pretty dang hot if he did say so himself. 

Ding Dong, the doorbell rang in the background. Flynn was here. Estelle was still here. Everything was going to go wrong. Shit.

Estelle’s phone buzzed and after reading whatever message she had been sent she sprang into action. Grabbing Yuri’s wrist she dragged him into the kitchen and moved on her own while giving him orders, “These are the new snickerdoodle cookies from the café,” she said setting the container of cookies near a plate he had forgotten to put away. “Rita has a plan so just follow our lead okay?” 

He didn’t really have a choice at this point.

They left behind a plate of cookies in the kitchen as Estelle led him to the front door. He’d have to owe Rita extra now probably. Opening the door, he acted as if he was seeing Estelle out as she put on her shoes. Rita and a very nicely dressed, gorgeous Flynn stood outside. Rita didn’t waste a second, “You better have gotten extra cookies to bring home Estelle. I know it’s a new recipe, but Yuri should know that he needs my taste approval to put new things in the café.” 

Wait, What? Glancing at Estelle to his side he noticed the cookie container she had brought still held a handful of cookies in it. Rita you glorious bastard, he would make her a cake or something too. Following her lead he leaned against the door frame, “Don’t worry you’ll like them I’m sure of it. I made sure to make extras thought just for you.”

“How thoughtful of you, come on Estelle let’s leave the lover boys to their date.” She took Estelle’s hand as she walked outside then Rita turned back to Yuri. With a smug glare she pointed a finger at him, “I’ll send you my interest later”

With a short wave from Estelle, he was left alone with Flynn.

“So, new cookie recipe?” Flynn greeted him with a smile that reminded him of sunshine. He gestured for Flynn to come it.

“After dinner, I have to act civilized sometimes ya know” 

“Only sometimes?” He raised an eyebrow at Yuri.

“What do you peg me for?” Yuri led Flynn towards the kitchen and Flynn stopped to greet Repede before sitting down at the table. 

“Someone who has cooked me food” 

“A way to a heart is through the stomach” He just hoped it would be good enough for Flynn’s heart. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dinner was amazing. Yuri had not been kidding when he said he could cook. He might just have to come over for dinner every night if it meant eating Yuri’s delicious food.

Yuri had cooked lasagna with garlic bread and had served some red wine. Flynn really didn’t drink, but it was better than any other alcohol he’d had before, he’d give it that. They talked about interests and movies. They both really liked videogames and much to Flynn’s surprise, Yuri was also a bookworm. 

“I’m just saying if Dumbledore really had cared for Harry he would’ve gotten him out of the Dursley household by third year at the latest” 

“If we’re altering the universe to what should’ve happened then Harry should’ve been in Slytherin”

“Now you’re going too far!” Yuri stood up and accusingly pointed a cookie at him. Repede barked as Yuri’s chair suddenly moved into him where he lay on the floor. 

“See even Repede agrees with me!” Flynn stood up as well and gestured to the offended dog. 

“I just backed my chair into him!”

“All the more reason for him to side with me!” Flynn crossed his arms as he and Yuri had a stare down across the table.

“Go on Repede show him who’s the right one here!” Yuri nodded to the now standing dog as his spot had been taken by a chair. 

Repede sighed and if dogs could roll their eyes he probably would have. This would show Yuri not to hit him with chairs. 

“HA! He sides with me!” Flynn gave Repede a slice of bread in return for his support. Take that Yuri!

“Traitors” Yuri murmured. 

“And yet you love us anyways” Flynn smirked with a nod. And as he processed what he just said he felt his cheeks burn red and tried to fit the oncoming blush.

Key word tried. 

“That’s debatable” Yuri shot back with his stupid, smug grin. 

“Come on Repede we are clearly not welcomed here” He pushed his chair back further to prove his point and started towards the living room as Repede moved ahead of him.

“Wait!” Yuri caught his right wrist half way across the room and turned Flynn towards him, “You got a little something on your face”

He did? Flynn rubbed both above and below his lips before looking back at Yuri, “Did I get it?”

“No the problem is with your lips,” Yuri pulled him a little closer to inspect.

“What? What’s wrong with my lips?” Was there something wrong with his lips? He didn’t think there was. They seemed normal enough as no one else had ever said anything about them really. 

“Yeah, they’re not on mine” With that stupid grin still on his face, Yuri pulled Flynn in for a chaste kiss.

It was short and sweet and probably could have escalated to something more.   
If Flynn hadn’t been so appalled by Yuri’s joke. He gently shoved Yuri back. 

“Hey!” 

“Your joke was absolutely horrible Yuri. Why did you ever think it would get you anywhere?” Flynn was close enough to feel Yuri’s heart beat racing, as his own was, from their close proximity. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this close to someone. Yuri’s breath mixed with his own and Flynn leaned in for another kiss.   
Yuri’s hands came to his lower back and his own clasped behind the other’s neck. Kisses became longer than pecks and he slowly found his hands moving towards getting a better grip on the other. Flynn pulled back and looked into those midnight sky eyes. He never wanted this moment to end.

 

“Yuri we’re back!” Karol’s voice echoed through the house as Repede barked in greeting and ran over to greet them. 

Dammit Karol! Don’t get him wrong, Karol was a great kid but the mood had been completely crushed now. 

Flynn really didn’t want to let go of this, but he really didn’t have a choice. Karol didn’t need to see this. Besides Judith would kick both their asses if he did. Slowly he pulled back from their embrace. Yuri gave him a sad smile, but did the same.   
Repede came trotting into the room with Karol not far behind. Judith followed a few paces behind and gave him a wave. 

“Yuri you should have seen the dinosaurs! They looked so cool and Judy said that they roar real loud and they’re so big!” Karol waved his arms around excitedly as if he was a little kid. Karol had a love for dinosaurs for as long as Flynn had known him. Though his love for adventures was far greater. 

“Sounds really cool Karol, so I guess you guys had fun at the museum?” Yuri gave Karol his full attention and Flynn thought it was cute he was so attentive to the youngster. 

“Yeah it was a lot of fun, next time you should come with us!” Karol turned his attention away from Yuri and towards Flynn, “You can come too! It can be a big group adventure!” 

 

“Of course Karol, sounds like a fun trip” 

 

“Yuri can I talk to you for a sec?” Judith grabbed both their attention as Karol continued to describe the museum with wild hand motions. Her cheery demeanor had faded and Flynn hoped it was nothing too serious. 

“Yeah sure, hey Karol why don’t you show Flynn your awesome dinosaur collection?” Yuri offhandedly mentioned. Well it wasn’t his business to snoop anyways. So he followed Karol up the stairs as he listened to Karol’s excitement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Yeah Karol is younger that he should be but my world my rules sooo yeah. Also updates should come every few days or so, I'll work on getting a schedule down around my life. Until next time!


	3. Puzzle Pieces

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Yeah this is currently my only escape from real life and idk how to feel about that but anyways here’s more of the nerds! And more bad jokes and puns? Probably ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ ALSO BAMCO WHY YOU HAVE NO BIRTHDAYS?

Judy was having a surprise party for Karol’s birthday. Lucky for them it was the weekend before Halloween so at least it was easy to plan. Judy had taken Karol out to a movie to give Yuri time to set up and for the other to arrive. Flynn had agreed to come help him out which was nice. Plus he had worn jeans that were just a little tight in the back so Yuri had a nice view as Flynn climbed up the step ladder to hang a banner in the kitchen. Not to say he didn’t have a view any other day but today it was – you know what, why was he even thinking about this? 

“Yuri can you hand me the tape?” Flynn held the banner up with one hand as he pointed over to the tape on the counter. The tape sat next to Yuri’s present for Karol. Damm, he had forgotten to put away that other red bow he decided not to use. Two bows had seemed like a good idea at first but then after putting the first one on, a second seemed like overkill. However when Yuri picked up the tape, he thought of a good use for that second bow. 

Walking back over to Flynn, with the bow hidden behind his back, he handed over the tape. Flynn turned his attention back to the banner which gave Yuri the time to strike.   
The bow was about the size of his palm but elaborate in design. With frilly red strings popping out of the center of a ring of curls. Snickering internally he pulled the paper backing off of the adhesive and took his attack stance. He then proceeded to slap it on Flynn’s butt. 

“Yuri, what the hell did you just do?” Flynn’s stern voice was probably to cover the blush on his face. That or he was actually mad. Yuri decided to believe that it was because Flynn was blushing.

“Just wrapped my present is all”

“Oh really now?” Flynn slowly came down the ladder and turned to glare at Yuri. He smirked in knowing that he had been right about the blush. “And what made you think I would ever agree to this?”

“Because you are bootyful” Yuri grabbed Flynn’s hands and held onto them. Looking deep into those glimmering cerulean orbs, he pulled Flynn in closer. Flynn smiled at him and pulled Yuri in for a hug. The other rested his head on Yuri’s shoulder.

Leaning closer to Yuri’s ear Flynn whispered, “My ass may be your present right now, but later your ass will be the one getting the present” 

Yuri wanted to die. His face felt hotter than the sun and if he could just go hid in a hole for a good twenty days that’d be fine to. Flynn merely backed away and winked at Yuri before going back to decorating for the party. Jesus Christ Flynn was hot.

 

“Hey lover boys we’re here!” Rita’s voice dragged him out of whatever specialized hell he just been subjected to. Thank God he needed a distraction. 

“Hello Yuri, Hello Flynn” Estelle walked into the kitchen with a present in hand. Rita entered behind her and Yuri was hit with a sudden realization.   
Halloween themed party meant costumes. Shit. He didn’t have a costume shit. 

 

“Flynn do you have a costume?” Hopefully Flynn had forgotten one too.

“Yeah it’s in the bag by the door with my present for Karol. I’m a knight, well I will be a knight. Why- you don’t have a costume do you?” Flynn turned to face him arms crossed. 

 

“Um Flynn? Why do you have a bow on your, uh, backside?” Estelle’s question caused the conversation to freeze and crack like ice as Rita’s laughter filled the room.

Flynn’s beet red face matched the color of the bow on his ass as Rita proceeded to double over and cackle louder. 

“Oh, OH MY GOD YOU, YOU Have, you have a bow-“ Yuri felt himself chuckle a bit but shut up instantly as Flynn glared his way, his face still bright red. 

Estelle’s face shifted from confused to concern to shock as she came to a realization, “Oh! Were we interrupting something? We can come back at a later time if-“

 

“NO!” Flynn turned back to her hands waving in denial as he reached back and pulled off the offending object, “YURI LOWELL YOU ARE SO DEAD!”   
Shit.

“Well, I can’t say I’m fond of that idea for a costume and I don’t think Karol would much appreciate it either” He danced around Flynn’s attempts to hit him and hoped Estelle would distract Flynn from his current objective of killing Yuri. 

 

“I have an idea of what Yuri could be!” Estelle clapped both hands together redirecting everyone’s attention. “I have an extra crown in my bag so Yuri can be a princess like me! I mean prince!”

“I think he’d fit the role of a princess better and besides then we can match. You two can be princesses and Flynn and I can be knights.” Rita agreed with Estelle in her own awful way and like hell he would ever agree to this. He’d go live on Mars without air before he became a princess.

 

“Yeah no not happening if I’m wearing a crown it’s because I’m king” 

“Well first of all what the hell would you even wear? And secondly you have no formal manners at all so there is no way you could ever be king” Flynn smacked him upside the head and he accepted his fate. 

“Alright yeah, I don’t have an argument for that” Well Flynn wasn’t wrong per say so he didn’t know what else to say. Looks like he going to be a knight and Flynn was going to be king or he’d just go costumes-less and Estelle would never allow that so yeah. He was going to be a knight which was worlds better than a princess. Worlds better.

 

So the party was in full swing. Some of Karol’s school friends had come over about five minutes before Karol got back. The kid had clearly been surprised as the fake sword, for his Halloween costume he had taken to carrying around, ended up smacking Yuri in the stomach. Kid was lucky Yuri liked him. 

Yuri and Rita watched from the sidelines as Flynn worked a dragon piñata in the living room. Judy and Estelle had gone to gather presents and prep the cake. It was cute the way Flynn got such a concentrated face to time the right moment to yank the piñata away from the reach of whoever’s turn it was. 

“You know he really likes you” Rita’s voice was unusually quiet. Yuri had learned from Estelle that when Rita was quiet she was serious. 

“Well I would hope so, I really like him too” Yuri stuffed his hands in his pockets as he leaned against the wall. Next to him Rita did the same but she crossed her arms. If Estelle hadn’t spent so much time at work talking about Rita he wouldn’t have known to listen closely for what was going to be said next.

“I know about your past”

“How.” How? How could she know? He had moved here specifically to escape the trail that never seemed to fade out. How long would he have to run from it? Would he ever be able to escape it because he had tried so hard, was trying so hard. 

“You can’t do work like I do and not have eyes and ears places.” Her somber tone was tight but what she said was true. You couldn’t truly work with blastia fully if you didn’t know what they could be used for other than what the average person knew. 

“How much.”

“Do I know? Enough to tell you to keep Karol, Estellise, and Flynn far away from it. You know Judith doesn’t need things like that anymore in their life and Flynn, well he’s had a hard enough time as it is.”

“I never even planned to bring it up in the first place.”

“And the blastia?”

“Safe.”

“Then that’s all I needed to know, but know this Yuri Lowell, if you break Estellise’s heart, if you break his heart,” Rita stood up straight and looked him dead in the eye. Her intention fully visible, “I’ll send Sodia to break your face.”

With that she walked over to the group of kids now trading and talking about what they had gotten from the piñata and announced to them that it was time for cake and presents. Flynn gave him a questioning look but he shook his head. This was between him and Rita. Sodia already didn’t like him enough as it was. The Blastia lab secondary security head glared at him every time he went to visit Flynn. No doubt she knew his past as well which made her attitude to him that much more understandable. Well it’s not like he could blame her really. Sighing he pushed off the wall with his left foot and walked towards the kitchen. There was birthday cake to eat after all.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yuri walked along the stone wall about a few feet off the ground as they made their way back to Flynn’s apartment. The sun had set leaving a late October chill in the air as dew formed on the ground. Flynn had invited Yuri to stay the night so he wouldn’t have to stay with Karol’s friends sleeping over. Costumes thrown back into the bag at Flynn’s side and coats bundled up it was a pretty nice night. He thought the party had gone well and besides for Rita acting strange around Yuri for that one time it was picture perfect.  
He wondered what it had been about, but decided it really wasn’t his business and if either of them didn’t want to share then he was okay with it they were adults after all. Still he couldn’t help but worry. Sodia didn’t seem to overly fond of his boyfriend and he didn’t want any more conflict between the people he cared about it just didn’t sit right with him.  
Still as he watched Yuri half concentrate on keeping his balance and half watch the scenery he couldn’t help but smile. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt truly this happy. Everything seemed to be going so well and he didn’t want to ruin it with his silly questions about something that may be a touchy subject. He didn’t want Yuri prying into his past till he was ready to share it. 

A strong wind blew and he shivered a bit he’d have to dig out his heavier coat soon. He heard a soft thud next to him and turned to come face to face with Yuri.

“I hate winter” Yuri buried his nose further into the scarf he has spent fifteen minutes digging out before they had left. It was only a twenty minute walk yet Yuri had declared he’d die without it so Flynn helped him find it. 

“Well it’s not even winter yet and it gets much colder around these parts so you better start layering up” He laughed and reached for Yuri’s hand. It may have been just his imagination but it seemed to fit his own perfectly. 

“Should’ve moved somewhere warmer” Yuri’s voice came out mumbled through his scarf yet he only gripped Flynn’s hand harder and started to swing them back and forth a bit. It was the little things like this that made Flynn fall for Yuri just that much more. For all his childish antics Yuri held a certain air to him that Flynn just couldn’t ignore. 

“Well now you’re here with me in the cold. That just means we’ll have to cuddle more which I am one hundred percent okay with” 

“As long as it’s with you, we could do anything” 

“Yeah well first you’re going to have to make up for your antics earlier” Flynn nudged Yuri with his shoulder as they continued to walk.

“Well I’m not one to miss a perfect opportunity you know” Yuri shoved back in retaliation.

“I’ll hold you to that you know” 

“Is that a promise?” 

He didn’t answer as they approached his apartment building. It wasn’t fancy, but it was enough for him. Slowly he led Yuri up to his floor and into his apartment only letting go of Yuri’s hand to pull out his keys and unlock the front door. 

“So got any extra blankets? I don’t wanna freeze on the couch ya know” Yuri shrugged his coat off and threw it on the back of one of the kitchen chairs. 

His apartment was simple enough but it never really felt like home. It always seemed to be too empty and he knew it couldn’t just be because of how he kept it clean and in the best condition possible. 

“If, I was uh, I was hoping you would actually sleep with me” Geez there was no right way to word that. He scratched the back of his neck as he waited for Yuri’s answer.  
Yuri himself seemed frozen in the moment standing there in the middle of his apartment and for a split second it seemed to make sense that Yuri would ever be there at all. The walls were kinda bare and plain baby blue, and the wood floor could only be warmed by so many rugs. Yet with Yuri there his large white couch seemed to just the right size and all those blankets he knew he had too many of no longer seemed to be enough. In that one moment the pieces of the incomplete puzzle clicked into place. The way the distanced city lights seemed to paint the tone of the scene as it drifted lazily into the room from the window near the far wall across from them. The way he hadn’t even turned on the kitchen light yet and the room already seemed bright enough. It all just made that much more sense. 

“I didn’t actually think that comment you made earlier about me getting a present was legit…” Yuri turned to face him and if he dared say it, Yuri looked a little embarrassed. It was kinda cute in a roundabout way from the other’s usual attitude. 

“Not, not like that, I uh, I meant fully clothed. My bed should be big enough for the both of us” He gave Yuri a small smile in hope that the other would agree and maybe he wouldn’t feel so lonely in the cold morning.

“Should be? How much space do you think I’m going to take up? You’ll get to be my personal heater I won’t need all that much more extra space” Yuri approached him and gentle slugged him on the arm. 

“Well come on then I’m exhausted and plus its cold. It’ll take a while for the temperature to heat up too so” he turned to walk towards his bedroom down the hall when he felt a hand on his wrist.

“Wait, I just uh, Can I? Can I kiss you?” Yuri looked hesitantly at him whilst biting his lower lip. 

“Of course, my knight” He closed the short distance between them and like the stars fit the moon in the sky. He thought that Yuri fit him, just right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Cheesy as hell there but well needed after the plot thickens and yes this has an actually plot…kinda maybe. Anyways the next couple of chapters will be crucial in developing their relationship and I hope you’ll enjoy them as much as I probably will. Till next time friends<3 (which should be sometime this weekend if things go according to plan bc I'll have time)


	4. Growing Warmer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: As promised here is the next chapter. Do I really know anything about Sodia’s character? No. I am still going to have her in this story anyways? Yes. Also this chapter was hard to write so I apologize for any awkwardness of wording or such.

Yuri could say with full honesty that Blastia Labs was not his favorite place to visit. Sadly though it was something he couldn’t avoid because Flynn worked here. So here he was climbing the steps to Flynn’s office because he hadn’t wanted to go through security to use the elevator. They would’ve taken too long and then the food would have gotten cold. Plus he probably would already have a hard enough time getting through Sodia. 

Flynn’s second in command for security here was probably more of a threat to him than anything else in this building. Not only was she scary as hell when she was on a mission, but at this point, if she knew about his past then she could end his and Flynn’s relationship at the drop of a hat. Not to say she would at any given moment. He had heard enough about her to know she would at least get the truth form him before she acted. She didn’t have her current job for nothing after all.

He made his way up to the third floor where he exited the stairwell and entered the rest of the building. The glass windowed hallway led around the curve of the building with a row of doors on the inside. The windows looked out over the city a few blocks away from the lake. Beneath the windows was the city’s park, an expansive field with a few trees here and there. Probably strategic placement if he knew anything. 

Knocking on the security divisional office door when he arrived near the center of the hallway, he entered when no one objected from the other side. The office was quieter than usual and if Sodia hadn’t been typing away at her desk he would’ve been worried that something was up. He walked past her as he entered Flynn’s empty office. Turning on the lights, he set the bag of takeout down on the desk when he felt something at the back of his neck, “Sodia”

“Lowell. Turn around slowly, hands up”

He did as she requested and came face to face with a small blastia weapon, one he recognized instantly as a small burst blastia.

 

Running through the downpour with a warm liquid seeping from his middle, breath sharp and unarmed. He had to go faster, he had to get away, faster, had to run faster, he had to get—

 

Sodia slapped him across his left cheek. Knocking his head towards the side and shaking him back to reality.

Slowly he turned to face her as his hand came up to feel where she had just smacked him. 

“Well that was not what I had expected, but know this Lowell if you try anything funny or give me any reason to think that you are going back to old habits, I will do what I think is best to protect those I care about” With that she turned heel and left the room. He heard a door shut behind her in the background but he wasn’t focused enough to know which one. Slowly he sat down in a chair near the wall. He had to calm down his breathing before Flynn got back.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------

Later in the day Flynn had stopped by Bright Star to pick Yuri for their date. The other had been acting weird today when Flynn had gotten back from a meeting and rushed out before they could eat together saying there was a rush back at the café. It would’ve been fine besides for the fact that Yuri’s order had still been in the bag with his own.

“Hey, ready to go?” Yuri questioned Flynn who was typing something into his phone. 

“Yeah just let me send this real fast,” Flynn tapped his phone a few more times and deposited the device into his pocket. “So I was thinking we hit up a pizza place I know and go for an evening stroll?” Flynn offered his hand and Yuri took it. The two set off to the place Flynn had mentioned wherever it was. 

“Sounds good to me and a stroll? I hadn’t realized we were that old” 

“Hardy har har, very funny Yuri”

“What can I say telling jokes is like a walk in the park” He winked a Flynn who in turn shoved him a little. “Hey!”

“And you say I tell bad jokes” Flynn rolled his eyes.

“You do, your bad joke habits are rubbing off on me” 

“Well then I guess we better prepare for a lifetime of bad jokes” It was supposed to be something that was a joke, but Flynn couldn’t shake the feeling that maybe a lifetime like that wouldn’t be so bad. 

 

Settling into a corner booth, Flynn sat across from Yuri as they both took off their coats. The conversation lulled in and out about random things as they ordered and waited for their pizza to come. The small eatery buzzed in the around them and the rush hour city traffic became background noise to their meaningless conversations. Well not meaningless, but Flynn couldn’t think of any other word to describe it. This sense of normalcy as if they’d had this conversation a thousand times before and they’d have it a million more. Between the talk of favorite books and movies and then old stories like the time Repede was a puppy and hadn’t understood the concept of glass doors. Poor Repede ran right into the door which was about as funny and sad as Yuri made it out to be. Or the time Flynn had tried to ask a girl to homecoming in high school only to learn that he was hitting on a lesbian like two weeks later when he saw her dancing with her girlfriend at homecoming. 

Their food came and Yuri managed to get pizza sauce all over his face which had made him almost choke on his drink. That only made Yuri laugh which was already cute enough by itself but the pizza sauce made it that much better. He hoped the redness of his face from almost choking would hide his blush as he laughed to. What could he say? Yuri’s laugh was contagious. The conversation lulled into comfortable silence as the continued to eat. Neither of them found a need to force something that came so naturally anyways. 

Soon Flynn had eaten more pizza than he probably should have and Yuri was still going at it. In his pocket, his phone buzzed with a text notification. Taking it out, he opened the text from Alexi, his boss, and read that there had been another discovery of a few test type blastia from the lab. The third case in the past three months. What was going on?

“Argh” He ran a hand through his hair trying not to get too worked up over it. There wouldn’t be anything he could do till Monday anyways as it would take all weekend for the investigation team to finish up. He jammed his phone in his coat pocket and looked up to meet Yuri’s questioning eyes.

“Hm?” Mouth full of pizza crust Yuri nodded the coat or rather the phone. 

“Nothing just work stuff, apparently someone stole some test type blastia again. That’s the third time in three months” Sighing he put his elbows on the table and his head in his hands. This whole problem was becoming more stressful with every passing day. They had zero leads on this and not a clue as to even begin. 

“Stole test blastia? Again? What’s going on over there? Wouldn’t they have upped security or something?” Yuri wiped his mouth on a napkin and his eyebrows scrunched a little in concentration.

“That’s what you would think, but my boss has decided it’s not necessary because then it’ll just show weakness or whatever the hell he came up with as an excuse this time” Why was he even discussing this? It just felt like no big deal to tell Yuri. Even if he really wasn’t supposed to talk about it outside of work. It was just Yuri, not like he would tell anyone. 

“Your boss? No offense to him but that seems rather questionable”

“You’re telling me, but no Alexei does what he wants I mean he is my boss after all” 

“Who, who is your boss?” Yuri’s face looked a little pale, but Flynn just chalked it up to the fact that the other had finally managed to rid his face of all that sauce on his cheeks. 

“Alexei, Alexei Denoia. Why do you ask?” Okay something was definitely up with Yuri. 

“No reason in particular” Yuri shrugged and grabbed another piece of pizza.

“Yuri you wouldn’t have asked if it was just no reason in particular” He raised an eyebrow at Yuri who was fiddling with his pizza crust on his plate.

“Just drop it Flynn”

“Does this have something to do with how you were acting earlier? Because you did bring lunch to my office so we could eat together and then run out right as I got there without ever touching your own food” 

“Please Flynn drop it” Yuri’s voice was small, but that only made him even more worried about Yuri. What was going on? What could have Yuri so upset? Wasn’t there something he could do to help?

“Yuri please I just want to help you”

“Well there’s nothing yOU CAN DO SO JUST DROP IT!” Yuri slammed his palm on the table as his voice climbed octaves. Realizing what he had just done in a public place, Flynn could only watch mouth agape, as his boyfriend ran out of the pizza place. Shit. He really had pushed it too far. Fuck.

Calling for the check, he slammed down forty dollars and ran out after Yuri making sure to grab their coats. He hoped the other hadn’t gotten too far away as he desperately wanted to apologize. He should’ve known there would have been things Yuri didn’t want to talk about, he had a few of his own things like that. Still, how did Yuri know Alexei?

\--------------------------------------------------------------------

Yuri ran until he was at the lakefront. His throat was raw from the cold air making it hard to breathe. On top of that he had left his jacket behind in an effort to get out of there. Great. Today was just fan-fucking-tastic now. Groaning he sat down with his knees bunched up to his chest. The ground was wet with a mix of dew or frost and there was a chilled breeze of the lakefront adding further to the late November chill. Why was he stupid enough to forget his coat? It wasn’t horribly cold out but still, he wasn’t exactly the warmest person around. 

Why hadn’t Flynn dropped the Alexei thing when he had asked? He really, really liked Flynn and he was so scared he was going to fuck it up. He wasn’t all too keen on the idea of people around here knowing about his past but this was the first place in forever that had people he cared about. They would miss him if he just up and left tomorrow. And he would miss them too. Dropping his head to his knees, Yuri tried to keep his shivering to a minimum. He should probably head back to Judy’s soon. Why was he even waiting out here in the first place? It wasn’t like anyone cared enough to come after him. 

“Yuri, I… I’m sorry I pushed something you clearly didn’t want to talk about, I understand if you don’t want to share everything but I’m worried about you” Flynn’s voice came softly from behind him. Flynn. Turning fast he found Flynn standing several feet away with his jacket in hand. Flynn, he had come after him? Why did he-? “I really like you Yuri and I know that there are thing you don’t want to share and I have similar things, but I’m worried about you because you’re not acting like yourself. The Yuri I know doesn’t run from things he faces them head on and if I can help you I want to be able to, but I can’t help if you don’t trust me”

“I-I just, its, its fine Flynn” Geez he wished his teeth would stop clattering. Flynn approached slowly and handed over Yuri’s coat which he graciously accepted. It was damm cold out here. He zipped up his coat and felt another around his shoulders. Looking up with curious eyes Flynn merely smiled as he put his own coat around Yuri. 

“It’s not fine Yuri. I got too caught up in the moment and for that I apologize. It won’t happen again I promise, but trust me Yuri. That’s what I’m here for okay?” Flynn gently grabbed his shoulders so they now stood face to face merely a foot apart. 

“Okay Flynn, apology accepted, I’m sorry for raising my voice” He pulled the coats tighter around him hoping to get rid of the cold that seemed to have settled into his bones by this point. 

“Apology accepted Yuri, now come on let’s get you home. Repede wouldn’t be too fond of me if I returned you as a pupsicle” The other put his arm around Yuri’s shoulder and nudged him close.

“Alright that one was bad and unnecessary” Yet he couldn’t help the small chuckle that escaped his lips.

“Ah but you laughed so that means it wasn’t that bad” 

“It was a pity laugh” 

“Whatever you say Yuri, whatever you say” Flynn gave him a small smile.  
So they slowly walked back to Judy’s house. Judy greeted them with hot chocolate because they had obviously been out too long and Karol gave him a hug to help ‘chase away the cold’. Even Repede seemed more cheerful than usual. So he sat in the kitchen, leaning against the counter mug in hand, watching Flynn and Karol discuss something about videogames. Repede at his feet and Judy gathering snacks nearby. An odd feeling bloomed in his chest, maybe this place wasn’t so bad after all. 

As Karol ran to get something to show Flynn, the two exchanged smiles and a knowing look. The warmth from the house and those around him made him feel just a little better after such a crap day. And Flynn being here after chasing after him just made him that much warmer. Was this what it was like to have someone care for you? Maybe, just maybe this place was starting to grow on him. And for the first time in a long time, maybe it was even starting to feel like home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I couldn’t decide on a POV so I switched again sorry about that. ALSO the plot continues to grow and yes there is an actual plot I just wanna develop things more before we dive headfirst into it so the next couple chapters or so will be mostly, if not all, fluff. BC GUESS WHAT ITS CHRISTMAS TIME IN THIS FIC AND THAT MEANS BAD ICE SKATING DATES AND SHIT! As you can tell I’m rather excited to write them. Till next time :). P.s. Expect another update sometime after Tuesday and then slower updates bc fluri month and I am not prepared, all of which I will be posting on ao3.


	5. A Christmas to Remember

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I wrote this instead of doing my chemistry homework also I hope you like Christmas folks bc I’ve got Christmas for days! (This is the only Christmas chapter I promise) Also I’m going to apologize in advance for when someone gets Christmas songs stuck in their head. And yes I’m aware its April, Christmas spirit lives year round especially when it involves cheesy romance.

The early December air was not any help on his nerves. The fact that he was also moving closer to his destination with every step was also not any help. The outside world was completely unaware of the impending disaster. No one could ever be prepared for what was going to transpire anyways. There was no possible way he would ever be able to recover. This was going to be the end of him. He and Yuri were going ice skating. But there was a slight problem that Yuri didn’t know about.

He did not know how to ice skate. 

Sodia had told him it was like roller blading but he didn’t know how to do that either. Her suggestion had been far better than Rita’s though, Rita just told him to wish for a miracle. Which in retrospect was probably all he could do at this point because he was now standing in front of the city’s ice skating ring. It wasn’t horribly crowded, thankfully, yet it still was enough of a crowd for him to be nervous about skating in front of. 

Slowly he laced up the ice skates that Yuri had gone and rented. Well you could never say anything was impossible till you tried it. So one foot in front of the other he slowly wobbled to the ice entrance behind Yuri.

“So you know how to skate right?” Yuri stood between him and the ice. He was going to have to admit defeat before he had even tried. 

“Yes of course I do” He was probably going to eat those words.

“Alright because I really don’t so I’ll be relying on you” Fuck. Yuri grabbed his hand and together they stepped onto impending doom. So far so good. 

Slowly one foot in front of the other, concentrating, he could do this. He could do this! He could- Flynn proceeded to fall flat on his butt as his skates rushed out from underneath him. Yuri was taken down as well still joined by their hands. A surprised and slightly betrayed look met his own. So it was harder than it looked. 

“So I may not actually know how to do this, but I didn’t think it would be that hard and I was clearly wrong so maybe we should just not do this because quite frankly I feel as if I’ve embarrassed myself enough. At least now his face was no longer cold.

The look of disbelief he received slowly shifted into a grin which then became a laugh and he couldn’t help but laugh too. Wow they were pathetic. Two grown men who could not ice skate but were too proud to not admit that outright till they failed. 

 

“Hey noobs do you want to get up at some point? You’re blocking the entrance” A girl interjected from behind them. Turning he came face to face with a small girl, a young girl who was probably only around like eight. What had she called them?

“Sorry about that,” Yuri said standing and helping Flynn up, “We were just a little frozen there” 

“Hmph, if you want I can teach you. But only you and not blondie there. You have skill that can yet be saved and he is just a hopeless case” She accusingly pointed a finger at him and honestly he was a little offended on being called out by an eight year old. Yuri, however, found no problem with such a proposal. 

“Alright you got yourself a deal. My name’s Yuri, what’s yours?” He held out his hand to the pastel bundled girl who returned the gesture with a nod. 

“Elle, my name is Elle. These are my friends Rose, Leia, and Edna” Sure enough behind Elle stood three other young girls. They all offered a smile and a wave besides the girl in a yellow jacket who merely nodded at them. 

 

“Well while you get your private lessons I’m going to go sit down, maybe you can teach me when you have learned from Elle here” Flynn left the rink behind the group of girls as they entered. Yuri gave him a small wave and turned back to Elle. 

“Alright so what do I do first?” 

They skated off as Elle and her friends tried to teach Yuri how to skate. Which they were slowly doing it just caused Yuri to spend about half his learning time on his butt instead of actually skating. It was actually pretty entertaining. Plus it was sweet to see how good Yuri was with kids. He took pointers from all the different girls and acted as if he had known them for more than just the twenty minutes he actually had. Flynn couldn’t help but smile at the scene in front of him as the girls taught his boyfriend how to ice skate. 

 

“You’ve got it really bad for him” A voice pitched in next to him. It was the girl in the yellow coat. She sat watching the group and looked over at Flynn from her seat about two feet away on the other end of the bench.   
“What?” 

“Your boyfriend, the one my friends are teaching, you really like him a lot” She nodded out to the ice where the girls were laughing at Yuri who had fallen yet again. 

“Is, is it that obvious?” He felt his cheeks heat up a little, surprised by the fact that even a little girl could catch how much he liked Yuri. 

“Yes, the only thing more obvious than that is the fact that the sky is blue” 

“Well, I don’t think it’s that obvious… um…” What was her name?  
“Edna” 

“Flynn, and I don’t really think it’s that obvious Edna” 

“Mr. Flynn, you look at him like my mom looks at my dad. I think it’s pretty obvious how much you love him” Love? 

“Well I wouldn’t say that I, that I love Yuri,” He scratched the back of his head, “I mean I really like him. Like I like him a lot and he’s really great and beautiful and he’s a wonderful cook and-“

“His eyes are pretty and his smile’s nice and you could spend eternity just talking about nothing and so on?” Edna cocked her head and simply waited for his response. 

“Well yes but that doesn’t necessarily mean that I-“

“You love him you just haven’t admitted it yet because relationships are more complicated than that yadda, yadda, yadda?” She waved her hand at him and replied in such a nonchalant tone that he had no room to argue with her. What was this girl?

“I, uh… I-“

“Just somethings to think about, now if you’ll excuse me Mr. Flynn Fish Face, I believe it’s time I go join my friends in skating” With that she got up and walked onto the ice. 

What just happened? He sat there dumbfound for a bit then shook it off as Yuri skated up to the side of the ring. 

 

“Hey”

“Hay is for horses” 

“Why do you always do that?”

“Because you always set it up for me, it’d be a wasted opportunity if I didn’t use it.” Yuri rolled his eyes.

“Well if you’re going to continue to do this to me I won’t teach you how to skate and me and the girls can laugh from the sidelines” He raised an eyebrow at that.

“You and the girls? Wow who would’ve know you were such a ladies man?”

“I like to think of myself more as your man” Yuri held a hand out to him and as he pushed of the bench and wobbled to the ice he rolled his eyes.

“Cheesy lines like that are only going to get you so far you know” 

“Well then, I guess I better skate up my game”

“That one didn’t even make sense”

“You don’t make sense” Yuri shot back as he turned to help Flynn keep his balance as he stepped on the ice. He didn’t fall on his first step which was surprising. Nor his next few steps. Maybe just watching others skate had helped him learn. And he spoke to soon—

His fall was broken, not by ice, but by a pair of strong arms, “That’s not the right was to slide into my heart you know” 

“God what I am going to do with you?” He resisted the effort to push Yuri away because then he really would fall on his put. 

“Kiss me?” The low tone made everyone else around them disappear as they were whisked off their own winter world away from everything. 

“How about we save that for later and ice skate now?” Maybe he could hide the way his heart was racing at Yuri’s suggestion because if they stayed in this position he wouldn’t be able to help the way his face would probably redden.  
“I’ll hold you to it then” 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been a week since they had gone ice skating and this week they were making cookies at Flynn’s apartment. So Yuri walked along the sidewalk, Repede at his side because his faithful companion was always welcome at Flynn’s place apparently. That made him pretty happy to know that his boyfriend loved Repede almost as much as he did. 

So buzzing into the building he walked up two flights of stairs to the third floor and the end of the hallway. He knocked on the door and waited for a bit till he heard Flynn’s voice echo in the distance, “Give me a minute please”

So he pulled out his phone and tapped a message to Flynn, ‘Hurry up. It’s weird just standing out here’

He got a reply of, ‘Wait a second you’ll be fine’

Oh, so Flynn had time to text him a reply but not time to come let him in? Rude. So if he was going to be stuck out here he might as well make it worth his time. Clearing his throat he leaned up against the door and sang, “Baby its cold outside” 

He heard an exasperated sigh from the other side of the door, “Yuri no”

“I’m gonna freeze out here~”

“You are inside a building”

“Come on just let me in”

“I said wait a second geez”

“Baby its cold outside” The door opened to reveal a worn out Flynn who was covered in flour? It was in his hair and on the front of his clothes. There was also a track of white footprints coming from where he knew the kitchen was. “Um? What happened here?” 

“I was trying to bake cookies but as Rita says “I would have a better chance surviving six games of Russian roulette than I would cooking something good” or whatever it is she says” Flynn shrugged and slowly trotted back to the kitchen in defeat leaving Yuri standing in the door way alone. 

Taking of his shoes and hanging up his two coats, he made his way after Flynn as Repede went to investigate the apartment. Besides for the white foot outlines on the floor, the place was the same as always. Bare blue walls, mahogany floors, mismatched furniture and those cream colored rugs thrown here and there over the cold wood floor. 

Slowly stepping into the door frame of the kitchen he found Flynn scrubbing floor off the floor slowly as the radio droned on softly in the background. Someone needed some serious cheering up. He was trying to figure just how to go about said cheering up Flynn when he heard the radio start a new song with a familiar opening. So he did the one thing he knew how to do best, make a fool out of himself. Picking up a nearby mixing spoon, he cranked the radio up a bit which made a startled Flynn whip around as he started operation cheer up the sad Cinderella, “ I~ Don’t want a lot for Christmas, There is just one thing I need, I don't care about the presents, Underneath the Christmas tree, I just want you for my owwwwnnnn, More than you could ever knooooowwwww, Make my wish come trrrrruuuuuuue, All I want for Christmas iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiisssssssssssssssssss YOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooOUUUuuuuuuuUU –yeah~ ” 

With a point of his finger at Flynn and a wink for good measure he jumped into action dancing along to the song. Not caring about the flour everywhere he let nothing stop him from belting out his own horrible rendition of Mariah Carey’s song. Flynn for the most part just sat on the floor dumbfounded as he danced along and jumped on the counter “ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU!” 

He threw more flour in the air as snow not caring if it got all over, he slid on his knees over to Flynn as he held up a piece of green paper over their heads as them being under the mistletoe and stole a quick kiss before bouncing back to his feet, leaving Flynn with a faint blush and smile on the floor. Hell he even took an old grocery list full of cookie ingredients and threw it out the window as his list to Saint Nick. Repede’s footsteps echoed in the background as he sang through the reindeer line. He sang another chorus line and singled Flynn to take the final verses.

It was so quiet at first he would’ve missed it if not for Flynn’s lips moving as the first line drifted into the room from the radio. He slowly rose to his feet as Yuri covered background, he slowly made his way over to Yuri as he jumped into the final chorus, “Oh I don’t want a lot for Christmas, this is all I’m asking for”   
And with a shared mixing spoon they held hands in the middle as the belted out a final “BABY ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YYYYYYYYYYYYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooouuuuuuuuuuUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU” 

They couldn’t sing for shit, Flynn was probably going to be complaining to him tomorrow about his neighbors complaining, he was now covered in flour and sweating a bit, but now of that seemed to matter as he stared into Flynn’s eyes over the wooden mixing spoon. Time seemed to slow as both of them leaned in closer. Breath mixing and eyes closing, radio long forgotten as the smell of sugar hung in the air. His own lips met slightly chapped, flour dusted ones as his other hand came to rest on the back of Flynn’s neck. If time never moved again he wouldn’t have any complaints.

He could taste cookies and hot coco as their kiss deepened, spoon clattering to the floor between them as they stepped closer and closed the gap, bodies flushed together. Yuri pulled back and rested his forehead against Flynn’s. He could feel the smile on his own face as he watched the others eyes flutter open to meet his own. 

“Hey”  
“Hay is for horses”

“So you say”

“I do say” 

“May I help you on your cookie making quest?”

“Why of course” 

“But I’m not helping you clean up this mess” And just like that the intimate atmosphere was thrown out into the cold as Yuri couldn’t help but grin. Flynn groaned and pushed Yuri away in frustrated disgust and flour covered floors were not meant for play fights which proved to hold true as he fell on his butt.   
So they spent the afternoon trying to one up another as they fell into a steady rhythm of baking in-between. A melody that you couldn’t quite understand but one that you could feel in every bone of your body. Dancing around each other as they cleaned, baked, ate cookie dough, and decorated their creations in a tune of their own. A symphony yet to be discovered and a song all of their own.

 

It was a Wednesday morning around ten about a week for Christmas when he overheard a conversation between two women as they left the café. Shit. He hadn’t gotten Flynn anything yet, and much less had any clue of what to get his boyfriend. Crap, crap, crap, crap, WHAT WAS HE SUPPOSED TO GET FLYNN FOR CHRISTMAS?!?!?

“ESTELLE WHAT I AM I SUPPOSED TO GET FLYNN FOR CHRISTMAS?” Completely forgetting about the café and any of its occupants he hollered to the mentioned pink haired girl.

“Yuri! There are customers!” Shit right. Thankfully only about three people were sitting inside currently two of which had headphones on and the third customer merely looked up from their phone long enough to glare at Yuri. 

“Right sorry, but Estelle! Christmas is in like a week and I have no clue of what to do!” A tie? No Flynn didn’t really dress above casual for his job unless he had a meeting. He normally just wore his security guard outfit which did look pretty fine on him. A watch? A shirt? What did you get your boyfriend for Christmas?   
“I, I don’t know”

“What do you normally get Rita?” 

“Um new books? Clothes? Ummmm I don’t know! This year I’m getting her a necklace but you wouldn’t really get a guy jewelry for Christmas and it is expensive, I don’t know why don’t you get him something you both love? Or something that umm like a picture frame or something I know you like photography, but wait, he should get you that?” Estelle rubbed her temple as she rambled off ideas. 

Wait pictures? That was perfect!

“I just got the best idea, thanks Estelle you’re a lifesaver!” He would’ve told her more but a customer came in and they were back to work. Eh he could tell her about it later. 

 

Christmas rolled around faster than he was prepared for it to, but he did manage to finish Flynn’s gift as the doorbell rang on Christmas day. He heard Judy invite in Rita and Estelle as Karol was playing with something he had gotten this morning in the den. The food he was cooking for tonight was going nicely and as Flynn entered the kitchen where he was about twenty minutes later everything was perfect. 

Estelle managed to wrangle everyone together for a white elephant gift exchange after dinner was done. Which meant all these old things no one no longer wanted got wrapped up and distributed to new owners of said things. Rita had gotten Yuri’s old Polaroid camera and Estelle had gotten Judy’s ugly bird apron which she decided she loved. Karol had gotten an old game of some sorts from Flynn and Flynn had gotten a box of books Rita wanted to get rid of. Judy had taken Estelle’s hardly used knitting kit and Yuri was stuck with Karol’s old stuffed dinosaur which he promptly handed over to Repede much to Karol’s complaints. 

Dessert consisted of lots of cookies, some of which ended up cleaned up by Repede as Rita decided to peg Yuri in the back to the head for some bad pun he had made. Then Judy had thrown one at Karol for telling some embarrassing story about her and the cycle went on till most of the cookies were eaten either by a person or a very happy Repede. 

Rita and Estelle had gone home about an hour ago at this point. The wind blew against the house as snow showered down from the sky. The four of them sat in front of the TV playing Mario kart till Judy decided it was time for Karol to go to bed and headed up herself. Flynn was going to leave but bad weather helped Yuri convince him to stay the night. Also they had yet to exchange presents. So by the light of the snowy sky, they currently sat on Yuri’s bed as Repede slept on the end.

“So you first or me first?” Flynn questioned. 

“Um, you go first” He still didn’t feel super confident about his gift so maybe he could work up the guts if Flynn went first. 

“Alright, so I know it’s not much but um, Merry Christmas” Yuri took the small, red, and rectangular box from the other’s outstretched hand as he slowly undid the silver bow on it. Lifting the lid he couldn’t help his mouth from hanging open a bit as he laid eyes on a small golden key. Wait was this? “It’s a key to my apartment, I mean if you want to come live with me, you, you don’t have to of course! And we can wait till the weather gets a little better to do it, but I thought that you’d like it better than living here. Not to say anything against Judith or Karol but um… Repede is invited too of course but I figured you could take care of him and such, I, uh…” 

He could do nothing but gape as Flynn rambled on. “Are, are you sure?”

“Yes, yes I’m sure Yuri” Flynn offered him a small smile as he continued to look between the other and the key. 

“Well this makes my gift look like nothing” He put the lid back on the box and set it down next to him.

“Nonsense if anything my gift was like nothing” Flynn’s eyes met his own as he reached down behind his side of the bed and pulled up a large golden bag. 

“Careful, its heavy” He handed Flynn the gift and waited with bated breath for any sort of reaction to what was sitting in front of him, hopefully a positive one at that. 

Silence lulled between them as Flynn careful reached into the bag and pulled out one of the picture frames. By the frame he could tell it was the picture of the family of bears he had taken from that tree back some time ago. The next was of falling leaves and the lakeside. The one after was a silly selfie they had taken laying on the ground, smiles plastered on their faces. Next was the river in the forest after he had fallen from the tree as Flynn stood on the small wooden bridge looking off into the distance. The final frame was his favorite, it was one he had gotten Estelle to take for him. A shot from behind of him and Flynn sitting together on the edge of a stone wall near the lake when they had all gone out on a walk one day when it had been warmer a while back when they had first started dating. The sunset reflected off the water and their hands were clasped together, a picture perfect moment. 

“Yuri…”

“I remembered you don’t really have things on your walls in your apartment so I figured we need to fill up those spaces somehow” He rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

“I love these, these are perfect thank you” 

“Merry Christmas Flynn”

“Merry Christmas Yuri” 

They shared a kiss as the snow drifted down outside. A quiet Christmas night filled with warm memories and warmer hearts. This was certainly going to be a Christmas to remember.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: （＾ω＾） yESSSSS ALSO before I forget to mention it, next chapter steps up the angst a bit but chapter seven is the moving in chapter so y’all can look forward to that as well. I’m not going to lie I teared up while writing this bc I can’t handle my own emotions. Also come bug my on tumblr @imagine-nerd. I just have too many emotions. Also updates will slower bc of Fluri month, really gotta get my shit together for that, but i will update during may dont worry :) and the fact that I still have real life shit to do… (╥_╥) till next time!


	6. Heart like Yours

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Yes it is January in this fic, yes I am aware warm weather should be uncommon, when I first started this fic I kinda based their city off of Chicago, weather is wacky af in the Midwest, so yes it is going to be like seventy degrees Fahrenheit (21.1 Celsius, thanks google), just roll with it.

It was surprisingly warm for January as the New Year rolled in. Sure it wasn’t super warm but compared to the weather that had been having, snow storms and ice, it was beautiful outside. Though it was also raining outside which made it the perfect day to sleep in and stay in bed. Plus his day off today and Flynn didn’t have to work on the weekends. Perfect for a Saturday and a lazy one at that. 

Speaking of Flynn, who was currently curled up next to him, he looked so peaceful when asleep. A small smile rested on the other’s face and Yuri had seen some cute shit before but this was definitely top ten material right here. If only he could lay here with Flynn forever, but he had to pee and was also hungry. No doubt Repede was too. Sighing he decided he could cook Flynn breakfast in bed if he was quiet enough. That’d be a nice way to wake up on a crap weather day like this. 

Sighing he rolled out of the warmth of bed and drifted towards the kitchen after a stop in the bathroom. Here he was thinking he had gotten up late when in reality it was only like eight in the morning. God dang it. Well there was really no point in going back to bed now when he was already up and mostly alert. Plus now he was too caught up in the struggle of the century; pancakes or waffles. 

Some days were easy because you would wake up and know that you wanted pancakes or that you wanted waffles. Sometimes it took a little thought or a second opinion, but then you had the worst days. The days where both sounded really good and you had no idea what to decide. Then there were the people who thought that there was no difference between the two. Those were the people Yuri had problems with. There was a distinct difference in the taste and the texture. How could people miss that? It was not hard to tell there was a difference how could you ignore something so important? It was a crime to think they were the same. Plus pancakes were totally better. 

Slowly he got to work making pancakes. The first few weren’t perfect as he would’ve liked but Repede had no complaints. Yet as the rest of the batch came into work the others were cooked to perfection. Not to pat himself on the back or anything but he was an amazing cook and these pancakes were going to be amazing. Shit he hoped Flynn had syrup. Going over and scanning the pantry his mission was complete as there was indeed syrup. Thank god. He finished the batch and cleaned up after himself. He even ate breakfast at the table. That must have killed some time so Flynn could sleep some more before Yuri woke him up. He checked the clock to find the time.  
It was now eight thirty. Eh good enough. 

Taking a plate, the syrup, and a glass of milk he walked back to the bedroom where Flynn was indeed still sleeping. Now if he wasn’t such a ‘little shit’ as he had been described before, maybe he would’ve felt bad about the idea that popped into his head next. Putting down what he was currently carrying on the dresser, he went back to the kitchen and hoped Flynn’s sweet tooth was going to pull through for him. Score! Flynn had whip cream. Which meant that Yuri could now pull his prank. Sweet. 

Grabbing the can, he snuck up to a very unaware Flynn and squirted out a nice, think glob of cream into Flynn’s hand. Giving a couple seconds of pause to make sure Flynn didn’t react, which he didn’t, Yuri reached up and lightly dusted Flynn’s forehead with the end of a tissue as he dangled it above him. The feeling cause Flynn’s face to scrunch up and sure enough Yuri’s victim played right into the trap. Flynn came up to itch his face and proceeded to smack and spread the cream all over his face. He couldn’t help it. It just burst out because he could no longer hold it back. Yuri started to laugh with each passing second as Flynn remained unaware of what he had just done. Yet his laughter was his downfall as Flynn slowly woke up and felt his face. Yuri couldn’t even try and play innocent because Flynn’s confused face was just too perfect.

He hadn’t expected any retaliation so that’s why when Flynn took a clump of whip cream and smacked in onto Yuri’s face he was just as shocked as Flynn had been. So started the whip war as they tried to rid themselves of the offending cream by putting it on the other person. That lasted for a bit till Yuri got tired of seeing good whip cream going to waste and decided to lick it off of Flynn’s face. Slowly but surely it developed into kisses and then escalated even further. Though as the whip cream vanished he remembered why he had woken Flynn up in the first place. 

“Right! Breakfast!” Sitting up suddenly caused him to fall off of his place on Flynn’s lap and onto the floor. “Ow.”

“Breakfast?” Flynn peered down at him from his spot on the bed. Blond hair askew and a silly grin on his face, Yuri wished he had his camera to capture this moment. 

“Yeah hang on I’ll get it for you” Pushing himself of the floor, he walked over and grabbed the assorted breakfast items. Turning he handed them off to Flynn.

“Breakfast in bed thank you, but next time make waffles, waffles are better.”

Yuri couldn’t believe it. His boyfriend, who had very nicely made breakfast for and then had delivered it to him in bed, had just not only insulted his cooking choices but also pancakes. He wouldn’t stand for such betrayal. 

“I made you breakfast, in bed, and you tell me that waffles are better than pancakes? How could you? I thought we had something special!” Dramatically he turned and looked out the window. “I cannot believe this, how could you do this to me?”

“Well I mean there is a song about waffles out there where’s your song about pancakes?” 

“Doth my ears deceive me? Flynn Scifo referencing a legend? A golden age meme? What is this world coming to?” 

“Has anyone ever told you you’re a pain in the ass?”

“I’m your pain in the ass.” It took a second for him to process what he had said and he couldn’t help feeling a little flustered at it. Flynn apparently felt the same as his face was tinted pink. 

“So, uh, what were you thinking of doing today?” Flynn whipped his mouth on his napkin and set the plate and glass on his nightstand. 

“Chill, watch movies, play videogames, just hang out. Sound good to you?” 

“Yeah, that sounds perfect.” 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was around eight in the evening when Flynn woke from an accidental nap. Well he’d fall asleep eventually again tonight, for now he was more than contempt to stay where he was. Netflix sat open on the TV in front of him as the controller for his PS4 had been haphazardly slid across the coffee table. He sat leaning against the back of the couch slumped over onto Yuri who, in turn, had his arms wrapped around Flynn holding him close. Rain echoed in the background, a faint lullaby tapping on the windows of his apartment. Illuminated by only the light from the TV, the whole moment felt too good to be true. 

Alright perfect moment over it was too hot in here right now, why was it so hot? Slowly he turned to escape Yuri’s hold when he noticed that Yuri was the reason he felt like he was in a sauna. He was sweating and his face was scrunched up. Flynn paused in his attempt to sneak out of Yuri’s hold as he felt Yuri’s heart beat race. Was Flynn supposed to wake him up? 

“…don’t.” Yuri barley whispered it, but that one word was enough to give Flynn his answer. He was going to wake Yuri up. Gently sliding out of Yuri’s hold he stood up and looked down at his restless boyfriend. How exactly was he supposed to go about this? Reaching out with baited breath, Flynn gently shook Yuri’s shoulder. Backing up a step his eyes were met with a sleep hazed glare. “Get back.” Yuri’s raspy voice surprised him, but he took stepped closer instead hoping that a familiar face would allow Yuri to fully come back to reality.

 

He was wrong.

“Get the fuck away from me.” Ice laced words were a blade to the heart as his chest was pierced with the weight of Yuri’s stare. Slowly raising his hands in front of him, he backed away one step at a time till his back hit the wall. “I said scram I won’t do it anymore!” Yuri reached out and threw the PS4 controller at Flynn. Jesus what the hell was going on! Luckily Repede seemed more prepared to deal with this side of Yuri than he was. Repede trotted over, jumped on the couch, and proceeded to lick Yuri’s face. Wait what?   
But it worked. The strange sensation seemed to have shaken Yuri out of whatever half asleep state he had been in as he blinked and looked around. When he saw Flynn backed against the wall, hands up, and the broken controller on the floor near him. It broke Flynn’s heart to see Yuri’s facial expression drop so quickly. 

Yuri scrambled of the couch like a deer caught in the headlights, vaulting over the back of the couch in a mad dash to escape, Flynn could only watch in mute pain as his boyfriend ran out onto the balcony in the rain. Running around the couch, Flynn went to follow Yuri out but was stopped by Repede stepping in his path and giving his a look he could only infer as ‘wait’. He had so many questions. But Repede had obviously been dealing with this longer than anyone else so Flynn waited. 

He went and picked up the broken controller and threw it out. He’d buy a new one sometime this week. He cleaned up their snack mess, putting away chips and recycling pop cans. That had killed five minutes. Repede was still sitting in front of the balcony door. He went into the hall closet and pulled out several towels. No doubt Yuri would need them when he came back in. Turning to go to the balcony, he stopped and grabbed a few more towels to put by the balcony door. He’d go out there if Repede had stopped guarding the door. Which he had thankfully, Flynn didn’t want Yuri to be out there any longer than he could help it. Being sick sucked for everyone. 

Slowly he peered out onto the balcony. The rain had come to a slight drizzle as he found Yuri sitting against the balcony’s bars completely soaked. Head hanging and body   
shaking he looked so defeated and alone. 

Taking a deep breath, Flynn approached cautiously. Sitting down next to Yuri, he stared out into the city making a point not to look at Yuri. The air was biting at his skin and the rain chilled him to the bone but if Yuri could see he wasn’t alone anymore, Flynn would gladly suffer through several rounds of the flu. He knew he shouldn’t ask. He knew Yuri would tell him when he was ready. But his questions were breaking his damm of control and he just needed to know Yuri was okay. Because he would never admit it out loud but that had scared the shit out of him. 

“Yuri… It’s okay.” He don’t know why he chose those words, but what else was there to say. Just something to build the gap that had currently come between them. He hesitantly reached out to rest his hand on Yuri’s which was resting on the ground between them. Yuri jerked his own back leaving Flynn to flinch away from the sudden movement. But he wouldn’t leave Yuri alone like this. 

So he sat there next to Yuri. He didn’t know how long they sat there in the chill. It started to rain harder before he turned to look at Yuri who hadn’t shown any sign of moving from his statue pose before. He jumped a little when he found Yuri already staring at him. 

“Jesus Yuri!” He clutched at his chest because even though he knew Yuri was right there he had not expected to be under such an intense watch. 

“Why?” He barely heard it over the sound of the pouring rain. If he hadn’t known to look for it, he would’ve missed the confusion in Yuri’s face.

“Why what?”

“Why are you out here? Why are you doing this? Why me? Why-” Flynn put his hand over Yuri’s mouth. Of course stopping Yuri mid-sentence meant that in the act, Yuri accidentally licked his hand which was weird but wouldn’t let himself be grossed out by it because that tongue had been in his own mouth before. 

There was no not awkward way to say that. 

“Yuri, I’m your boyfriend. I’m supposed to be here for things like this. I want to be here for you Yuri it’s not even a matter of what I’m “supposed to” do.”

“But why would you ever want to be with someone like me!” Yuri pulled back from Flynn’s hand. Thunder rolled in the background of the rain hammering down on them. Lightning illuminated the space between them. 

“Why? Because I LOVE YOU! THAT’S WHY! I love you Yuri Lowell and so help me god if you ever scare me like this again. I want to be here for you, I want to help you through things like this but I can’t if you don’t trust me Yuri! I can’t if you don’t tell me these things!” Panting, Flynn waited for any sort of reaction. Anything, anything at all. Thunder crashed overhead and when the lightning flashed, Yuri had buried his face in Flynn’s chest. Slowly, he wrapped his arms around Yuri. Pressing a kiss to the top of Yuri’s head, Flynn held him tighter. 

The storm continued throughout the night, but it was something neither of them would have to face alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Blah I did not like writing this chapter at all because it gave me so much difficulty and im not really sure how I feel about it but here y’all go. Expect another update in about a week from now.


	7. Ghosts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Bleh but u know what, I’ve gotten most of the build for this fic out of the way now. Expect shit to get serious bc the real story starts soon. Also really late on this but I apologize for my formatting/grammar errors I normally don’t write such long works so it’s all new to me. At least the formatting. I have always sucked at grammar :P .

Winter sucked ass. Every single year he told himself next time he’d move to a warmer city. One that didn’t get such a cold winter. Yet every single time he moved, it only seemed to get colder. On the plus side, being cold a lot made for easy reasons to cuddle with your very cute boyfriend. The downside however were days like today. When your boyfriend actually had a legit job so he couldn’t come with you when you trekked into the frozen tundra. At least Repede would still come with him. 

So Yuri bundled up as he left Flynn’s apartment on a Tuesday morning because he was going out to take photos. He was going to win that photography contest. He was going to this year. Not have his camera destroyed like last year. Or miss the time to turn in his photos for reasons he really didn’t want to remember like two years ago. This time, he was going to prove that he really could do this and it wasn’t just some silly hobby. Plus the prize money would be a really nice bonus to winning to because who didn’t like to receive money? Stepping out onto the street, Repede at his heels, today was going to be the day he got that perfect shot. 

At least he had hoped it was going to be. 

His ringtone for Flynn sounded from his camera bag as he struggled to get it out. Stupid idea to put your phone in the bag first, smooth move there Lowell. Finally pulling it from the bag he answered it as he started to walk towards the lakeside park. 

“Hello?” 

“Hey Yuri, you’re not working today right?” 

“I was going out to take pictures why?”

“Perfect! Rita needs someone to accompany her to the local elementary school so she can explain blastia better to the some school kids and because of what’s been happening here recently we can’t spare anyone to go with her. It’s not that she can’t take care of herself, it’s just I’d feel better knowing that-“

“Its fine Flynn, do you want me to come to the lab and get her or meet her somewhere?” Where there went today’s free time. Flynn was so going to owe him for this. 

“She said she’d meet you at Zaphias station. So you’re okay with this, I mean if you can’t or don’t want to its perfectly okay.” 

“I said its fine.” Fine meant fine, it wasn’t like he was a woman or anything. Fine just meant fine.

“Okay, thanks so much Yuri really I promise I’ll make it up to you!” Stupid Flynn being Flynn. 

“Saturday, hiking, I need pictures.” 

“Sounds like a plan, see you later okay?” 

“See ya later then.” Hanging up, he tucked his phone back in his bag. Damm now Repede couldn’t come with. “Sorry bud, gotta go do people things looks like you’re staying here. Public school sucks anyways, you won’t be missing much.”

After a trip back up and down, he headed towards Seventh Street. If he remembered correctly he totally knew how to get to the station. If was a very key word in that statement though. Luckily street signs helped point him in the right direction as fifteen minutes later he entered the station after a flight of stairs downwards.  
The station itself was pretty normal for a subway station based on other cities he’d been to. The only thing that made Zaphias station stand out was its weird ass clock that had been designed to look like a golden pocket watch. Flynn had said something about it being a gift to the city from some artist whom he had never heard of. The blastia that powered it though was fairly nice as it was the centerpiece of the clock, shining a light silver. Sadly the lighting in here sucked so there was no good way to take a photo that actually turned out good. The woes of modern architecture. 

Looking around through the morning crowd he tried to find Rita. Which was a lot harder than it sounded because not only was she short, well that was really it. She was hard to find because she was short. Luckily he knew that last week Estelle had lost a bet which had made her change Rita’s ringtone for him. And because he never actually called Rita, it would be the perfect one time use. Which would have to wait till another day because he found her. Shorty Mcshort was literally about twenty feet away and he knew because he could hear her apologize for running into someone while she probably was staring at her phone. Yep that was definitely a dead giveaway of her location. Walking up to her, he grabbed her collar and tugged her in the right direction of where their train was. She looked up only to glare at him after recognizing him. This was going to be so much fun.  
He didn’t really have much to say about their trip to the school because it almost completely was encompassed by the statement Rita ignored him while he stared out the window. The only verbal interaction they had was Rita telling him to follow her to the school after they got off at a station a little outside the city. 

The school itself wasn’t horrible run down as he’d seen others be near cities and it was definitely nicer than his own grade school had been. Of course that didn’t mean he was looking forward to spending part of his day here. Plunking down in an empty desk in the back of the classroom he zoned in and out as Rita did her whole presentation on the  
workings of blastia. 

The ones that provided electricity, the ones that ran machines, the ones that were used to power most of their technology, the ones that helped with medical practices, so on and so on. Then she talked about how blastia technology had advanced since whenever and who had helped with these advancements. One of the kids asked about using blastia as weapons which lead her to her next topic about the burst blastia which fired energy shots depending on how big the blastia was and its level of power. Her next topic was the one to drag him out of his daydreaming.

“Illegitimate blastia while unheard of by most are not uncommon. These are sold by people on street corners who say they can get you the blastia you want for a low price. It’s a scam the government has been trying to shut down for years as these blastia generally lead to accidents that can cause deaths. If a blastia seller seems sketchy, don’t buy from them. Make sure to buy from a trusted and well known seller. Saving what may be a few dollars does not cancel out the price losing a life. It might seem like a good option at the time, but like stranger danger you never, trust blastia sellers who don’t have a government issued permit. Luckily for you scamps, laws around this topic have been increased tenfold in the past few years. Just because it’s unlikely to happen does not mean you shouldn’t be aware of the problem. Any questions?” Rita finished her presentation and addressed the students of the classroom who were still processing the last of the information. A kid about two rows in front of Yuri’s spot raised his hand. 

“Mrs. Rita, if these blastia are so bad then why do they still exist?” Yuri didn’t need a front row seat to see Rita scowl at the kid’s question. 

“I’m afraid that’s a question I don’t know the answer to.” Rita said simply. 

A sharp trill echoed throughout the classroom as kids jumped up from their seat and rushed to the door. The teacher thanked Rita for coming and rushed out after her class. Standing Yuri stretched and walked up to the front of the classroom where Rita was packing up her things. 

“Saved by the bell huh?” His nonchalant tone earned him a scowl. 

“Kid should’ve asked you that question not me.” Slinging her pack over her shoulder, Rita started out of the classroom. 

“You think I know how to answer that question? Just because I know firsthand about Illegitimate blastia doesn’t mean I’m suddenly an expert.” He shot back as he started after her. 

They had gotten about halfway down the hallway when Yuri got a weird chill on the back of his neck. Running forward, he threw Rita down to the ground and covered her body with his own as a ball of energy flew over their heads and collided with the wall in further down the hall. Looking over his shoulder he saw the kid who had asked the question in class. Shit. 

“Yuri? What the hell? Get off me!” Rita struggled under him and he held a hand to her mouth. 

“I’m going to distract him and when I flash a three behind me run I’ll be right behind you.” His serious tone must’ve convinced her that this was a real threat. 

 

“Stand up and put your hands where I can see them!” The kid’s voice squeaked when he threatened them, but they both complied. An emotionally unstable kid with a burst blastia that could put a carter in the wall was the last thing Yuri had expected to deal with today but life was full of surprises. 

“Why are you doing this?” The kid merely barked out a laugh at his question which was not a good sign. 

“If only someone would have told us this stuff earlier! My mom wouldn’t have died! I wouldn’t have been so trusting! I’ll ask again, why do these things happen?” The kid had tears streaming down his face as he yelled at them. Shit how was he gonna get out of this one?

 

“Because kid’s like you are never going to learn anyways” A new voice entered the hallway and with a thud, the kid crumpled to the ground. Standing guard in front of Rita he came to see a familiar face. One that he had been hoping to never see again. 

“Raven.”

“Hey Yuri, miss me?”

 

“You two know each other?” Rita questioned from behind him.

“Well duh Mordio, how do you learned about him? Of course I know him!” Stupid Raven. Stupid bastard appearing out of nowhere. 

 

“Sadly.”

“Hey shut up kid, not my fault you were ever in that shit.” Raven fired back and Yuri felt the need to go punch him.

 

“Alright well it’s been a long day and now it’s time to go home so let’s get the hell out of here before our friend over there wakes up.” Rita turned heel and walked towards the stairs. She paused at the top and waited for him to catch up. Together, the three of them made their way back into the city. Thankfully, nothing else out of the ordinary happened, well, asides from Raven tripping but that wasn’t out of the ordinary that was just Yuri. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was finally Saturday. Thank fucking god because Flynn was so done with this week. But today was no day for relaxing because he had to help Yuri move in all his other shit. Thankfully nothing had happened on the trip he asked Yuri to go with Rita on. Both had complained though about how boring the day had been going to that school. Flynn would take boredom any day over some sort of conflict. Especially when the people he cared about were involved. He set the last box on the ground in the front room. Yuri stood of to the side looking around questioningly. 

“What’s up?” Flynn took a seat next to the box. He needed a break, so many stairs and heavy lifting were not a good combo. Why did the elevator have to break down today? Why couldn’t it have been any other day? 

“Just figuring out where I wanna put all my extra shit so it’s out of the way.” 

“Please this place is pretty bare and it’s more homey to see shit just out so I don’t mind. I mean eventually it’d be nice if it all had a place to go but right now it should be fine.” Flynn scratched Repede behind the ear as he came to lay down next to Flynn. 

He never really pegged himself to be the dog kind of person. Or pet kind of person really but he did enjoy Repede’s presence in the apartment with him and Yuri. Made the whole place seem a little less empty now that there were more people, and dog, in the space. They also just fit right in, like they were always meant to be there with him. 

“I know it’s just something important to me, I don’t want to leave it lying out it the open.” Yuri turned and walked down the hall towards the bedroom. 

“What is it anyways?” He asked as he got up and followed Yuri down the small hallway. 

“It’s nothing.”

“Uh huh, it nothing, so it’s not important at all? I can just throw it away? Go throw it in the middle of the street? Sure seems like nothing.”

“Okay fine I’ll tell you but you can’t tell anyone. Got it?” Yuri turned and looked at him pointedly. What the hell was it?

“Alright, geez, you’re awfully serious about this. Is it a dildo or something like I don’t think it could mean the difference between life and death here.” Yuri just glared at him and he held his hands up in defense. “Okay, okay serious matter I understand. No more jokes.” 

“Come here,” Yuri sat down on the bed and opened the small box he had been carrying around the house. Sighing, he walked over and sat down next to Yuri.  
Peering into the small box, he found a golden bracelet. What was so- there was a blastia- a blastia in the center of the bracelet. It was a deep red that glistened in the light, unlike any blastia he had ever seen before. In a serene way, it was beautiful. It felt like he was looking into a world beyond their own. A world of possibilities and things he didn’t understand. He could see why Yuri wanted to hide it. 

“It’s beautiful.” Reaching out he touched the blastia. Working at blastia labs for several years now, he had never seen anything like this before. When he touched the surprisingly warm surface of it, the blastia seemed to come alive under his fingertips. He could feel the immense power flowing through it. The feeling was addictive and if Yuri hadn’t pulled his hand away from it, he might’ve sat there just touching it forever.

“Understand now?” Yuri’s somber tone shook him out of his trance.

“Yeah, I understand now. Can I ask you a question?” He looked to Yuri who merely nodded in return. “Why do you have this?”

Yuri looked away, eyes downcast to the floor. Yuri shifted and looked down at the box in his lap. The blastia seemed to flash in the light, but it must’ve just been his imagination. If Flynn hadn’t been listening closely for the answer he would’ve missed it.

“Because it hurt someone I loved and I’d never forgive myself if the same thing happened to anyone else.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: щ(ಥДಥщ)Life why you hate me so? So yeah Ima try and update again before the end of the month, probably not for two weeks bc school is hell. Also I will write more for Fluri month shits just been really hectic recently so I only have one other prompt done for later in the month, but I will try and do more. Till next time ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)


	8. The incident

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Its finally summer and thank god for it because I’m currently dead.

Flynn hated Rita. He also hated Rita’s new friend Raven. These two were making his life miserable. They had barged into his office for the fifth morning in a row just for no apparent reason other than to remind him of all the things he had to get done. Like he didn’t know what he had to do, what was his job for then? Babysitting adults who act like children because that was it currently felt like he was doing. Honestly how was he ever supposed to actually get anything done around here? Because at the current rate things were going he would never accomplish anything. 

“Will you both shut up and leave me alone so I can actually work!” Slamming his fist on his desk, Flynn reached up to rub his temples. Ugh it was only ten and he already was feeling a migraine coming on.

“Hey you okay?” Raven inquired as he reached out towards Flynn. He could see a hand coming towards him as his vision blurred and his head pounded. 

“Guh! My head is – killing – me!” Spots danced in his vision as Rita rushed between him and Raven. Could it be happening again? But it had been so long. Why now? 

 

“ – Lynn, Flynn!” Rita stood bent over so she was right in his face. He could see Sodia not far behind her and Raven further back. The pounding had subsided and it no longer felt like the world was spinning. 

“Yeah, I, I can hear you. What happened?” He tried to stand but his legs were like jelly beneath his weight and he fell back into his chair again. The action earned him a frown from Rita. 

“Alright that’s it I’m calling Yuri and getting him to take you home.” She turned and ushered Raven out, not even bothering to give him a chance to argue. 

“But I’m feeling better now.” He called to her, but his voice cracked midsentence. Sodia came over and took the paper work in front of him, no doubt to work on it in his stead, and turned towards the door.

“Don’t come back till you’re feeling better Flynn, and I mean it.” With those words she closed the door as she left his office. Damm, he hated being treated like he couldn’t do anything on his own. It reminded him way too much of back then. When the headaches first happened and the whole incident went down really. Sighing, he set his head down on his desk and closed his eyes. Maybe if he could stop the room from spinning then he could actually convince Rita and Sodia he was feeling better. 

 

It was dark when he opened his eyes again. He was definitely no longer at work. Yuri must have come and picked him up. Damm had it really affected him that much? Why now of all times anyways? He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood. Stretching, he slowly made his way out into the main room of the apartment. Yuri sat on the couch with Repede next to him as his hand slowly rubbed back and forth on Repede’s back. At this point he didn’t even care anymore. In the beginning he hadn’t wanted Repede on his furniture but after a few months he let up on the rule and now it was just pointless to fight it. What did it really matter in the end?

“Hey feeling better sleeping beauty?” Yuri turned the volume down on the T.V. as he approached the other half of the couch and plopped down. Running a hand through his hair, Flynn blew out a puff of air. Was this really the time to have this conversation? He didn’t think Rita would have told Yuri which left him with the hard conversation.

“Yeah, thankfully.” 

“So what happened? Rita said that you weren’t feeling good but you were fine this morning or did you try to act tough or something? Because your health is more important than your work but you probably know that as an adult.” 

“I was fine but Rita and her new friend you two found would not shut up this morning and after the past week of it I felt a migraine coming on. This time it was weird though because in about five seconds it went from headache to full on migraine just like when I was a kid.” 

“You used to get migraines as a kid?” Yuri questioned.

“Yeah but only after the incident.” He hated telling this story. Why did he want to, actually want to share it with Yuri. Though Flynn guessed it made sense. After all he loved Yuri, so it made sense he’d want to share everything with him. The good and the bad. 

“The incident?” The dim light from the T.V. leaked into the room as Yuri’s face lit up with concern. Taking a deep breath, he began.

“When I was younger we used to live on the outside of the city. Back then there was a big issue with illegitimate blastia. As part of the police squad designated to secure and dispose of these blastia my father used to warn me about all these different things. One of them was not to cross the street at certain intersections because people would sell the illegitimate blastia to power cars near there and well cars in that intersection were notorious for blowing up. Well I used to think that as cool as he was, my father had too many safety rules so I disobeyed that one and almost got killed. I was in the hospital for months and it wasn’t really because of horrible injuries but because I lost most of my memory from childhood. My father tried to hunt down the dealers but was killed in the final bust. A show down between dealers and cops. The only memory I had of him was the ones from my time in the hospital and me disobeying his rule. It was devastating knowing that there was more to him but never being able to remember. So I forced myself to try and remember by doing a bunch of crazy things I thought would work like hitting my head really hard or almost drowning and so on. My desperate attempts were futile and the only thing they were good for was giving me massive migraines. Yet again my own stupidity was the reason things were going wrong. Irony at its finest.” 

Light danced on the floor from the T.V. as he refused to look up at Yuri. He might want to share the story but that didn’t make it any easier. 

“I, I had no idea. I’m sorry you went through something so awful Flynn.” 

“It’s in the past now Yuri.” Looking up he gave Yuri a weak smile. His eyes were watering a bit but he hoped it was dark enough in the room for Yuri not to notice. His boyfriend seemed at a loss for words just staring at the floor. As Yuri got up and pulled Flynn into a hug he just accepted it. 

It may have been in the past but that didn’t mean it still didn’t hurt. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You could see the colors of dawn across the surrounding buildings as the rising sun painted the world hues of red and yellow. Sun rise would always be the perfect time to take pictures. Taking a sip of coffee, Yuri winced as it was still a little more on the burning side than the drinking side. 

It had been three days since Flynn had told him about the incident. Yuri really didn’t know what to think of it though it did make sense now why Flynn had never talked about childhood when they swapped stories. It was a little unbelievable to be honest. Being involved with illegitimate blastia at a young age he had never know about ones that made cars blow up. Most of the ones he had ever come across had just been for household appliances or electricity. As far as he knew at least. What if he had sold one of the really bad ones before? Maybe it had helped him and his family get by but still it didn’t help the pit in his stomach about the whole thing imagining if he indirectly got someone seriously injured or killed. 

Wind dove through his hair as it weaved in between buildings guiding birds through the air. Shaking off those thoughts he turned back towards his camera. He should be able to get a couple more amazing shots in at the right time. 

The sliding door behind him opened as someone else stepped out onto the balcony. He continued to take pictures as they came up next to him and leaned against the railing. Setting down his camera on the small table next to him he picked up his coffee mug and raised it in greeting towards a yawning Flynn. 

“Did I wake you up?” 

“No I – was up already I just didn’t want to get out of bed.” Flynn yawned and tried to smooth out his bedhead. Keyword tried which he didn’t mind because Flynn looked pretty adorable with messy hair. Speaking of adorable, he reached for his camera and took a few steps back. This was perfect. With a click the scene became a moment trapped in time by his camera. Pulling back he looked at what the scene was.

Rosy sunlight reflected by clouds saturated a spectrum of yellow and orange. Flynn sat half leaning half standing against the balcony’s railing with a look of serenity resting on his face. Tousled hair swayed in the calm breeze as birds chirped in the distance. It was as if the entire universe simply froze in that singular moment when it dawned on him. Maybe it had been just then and there or maybe it was a dam finally bursting, but it was in that picture-esque moment that it finally fell into place.

He was in love with Flynn. And it was just as beautiful, if not more beautiful than any sunrise could ever be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: this chapter was way more of a struggle that it should’ve been but I like how it turned out thankfully. A little shorter than normal but finally done. Expect another update around next Tuesday again so till then.


	9. Something Right

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: This story is never going to go how I try and plan will it? -_-

Yuri liked rain. Don’t get him wrong he found it to be soothing as small droplets pit, pit, pattered on windows and the ground. But today, after it also rained for the past two days, he was getting sick of it. Just on and off, on and off, and on and off. It was never ending! Especially because the weatherman had said the rain was supposed to have stopped today meaning he had left his umbrella at home. Stupid weather people never getting it right when it mattered most. 

At least the café had finally closed for the day. Estelle was wiping down tables as he moped the floor. Music played in the background but because it was always there it was basically just noise he no longer paid attention to. Nothing but the music and rain to fill the silence of the shop as the two of them slowly worked towards leaving. Counters wiped down, floors swept and mopped, tables cleaned, dishes done, cash counted or stored, registers locked, food put away, leftovers eaten or thrown out, and then finally just locking the door behind them. It really wasn’t as bad as it sounded as dishes were cleaned throughout the day and they weren’t done by hand. Praise the invention of dishwashers. Besides at this point it was basically nothing after having done it for the better part of a year. 

Thankfully by the time they were done closing up it had stopped raining. A quick goodbye to Estelle and he set off for home. The air was humid after the rain but the summer night chill still managed to find a way into his bones. Shivering he waited at a crosswalk for the light to change so he could cross. Though only eleven at night in the city it was as if his only company was the city lights. The walk sign finally changed as a strong breeze blew by him. 

Wait a second, that hadn’t been a breeze. It was a kid, a kid who was currently running from three guys who barreled past Yuri nearly knocking him to the ground. He didn’t need to think before he figured out what was going on. Bad blastia dealings that’s for sure. After all it took one to know one. Not his problem anyhow, he was beyond that. Reaching   
into his pocket he pulled out his phone to play some music for his walk home. Only his phone was no longer in his pocket. Instead sat a deep blue blastia core – that brat snatched his phone! Why him? Why did this sort of thing always come back to find him. Groaning and cursing he started to sprint after the group of guys and the twerp they were also chasing. 

His feet echoed softly against the pavement as he charged forward. The humid air made for harder breathing but that was his phone dammit! He had a shit ton of things on there! Charging around the next corner he could see the punks go down an alley the next block up, thankfully he knew the city well and cut down another alley as a short cut. Here’s how it was going to go down, he would hop the fence between the two alleys, snatch his phone from the brat, throw away the stupid blastia, and jump back to the other side for a speedy get away. 

Yeah shit never went according to plan sadly. 

Vaulting over the top of the fence, Yuri landed between the thugs and the twerp. Turning he yanked the kid up by their collar and pulled them up from the ground.

“Look kid, I don’t know what kind of shit you’ve gotten yourself into nor do I really care but you took my phone and I’ll be wanting that back so hand it over punk!” His growled threat seemed to do the trick as the kid slowly held up his phone. Still in one piece and not a crack on the screen to be found. Thank god. Dropping the squirming brat he went to   
leap back up the fence only to find a hand on his shoulder holding him down. Well shit. 

Thug number one or ginger beard, had a hard hold on him. The other two thugs, the one on the left being knifeman and the one on the right being no front teeth, slowly advanced towards him and the kid. 

“So the brat did call a friend, or maybe you just were stupid enough to get involved I don’t care, the kid owes us so either he’s paying or you’ll both be.” Ginger beard looked between him and the kid, clearly ready to proceed with option two. Double shit. 

“Well I have something you might find interesting.” 

“Oh really? And what could be more interesting than cash girly boy?” Ginger beard questioned unamused. Girly boy? Just because he had long hair? Well that certainly was rude.

“A powerful blastia core.” He hoped things had not changed or else he was royally fucked. 

“We don’t deal with those kinds boy, so you better prepare yourself for a world of hurt.” Well fuck. 

Reaching into his back pocket he pulled out the smooth core hopefully the thugs would be too excited at the prospect of fresh meat and not really be paying attention. As much as he hated his history with these things here was to hoping that his knowledge of them hadn’t faded. Gripping the core with his fist he lunged forward and punched ginger beard hard in the throat. Blue light exploded from inside his fist as a beam of energy rushed from between his fingers and stabbed the man in front of him. Blood splattered but there was no time to worry about that as knifeman charged towards him ready to stab him in the ribs. Dodging right he came face to fist with no teeth who knocked him to the ground. 

Okay ow. His right hand, the one that had been holding the blastia was numb and he couldn’t feel his fingers. The world seemed to be spinning as the kid grabbed the blastia and charged forward. Muffled sounds played out around him as he saw both the other thugs fall. Either dead or unconscious. A figure stood over him, hand outstretched. It took a minute to process it was the kid. Grabbing the offered hand Yuri helped haul himself into sitting position against the wall. Things were still a little blurry but at least he could hear things now. 

Taking a look at the scene he found puddles a murky red as three either very injured or dead men bled into the rain left on the ground. The kid looked shaken but unhurt for the most part. Watery eyes met his own as the brat turned and ran from the scene. Well triple shit. He really did have to get out of here but there was no way he was going to be able to walk ten more blocks back to the apartment with a concussion. At least he was pretty sure it was a concussion.

Vibrations shook him back to the current matter at hand, right his phone. Holding up the small screen he saw that Flynn was calling, with a deep breath he answered the phone.

“Yuri where the hell are you? You should’ve been home twenty minutes ago!” Flynn yelled through the phone.

“I’m in the third alley between Aster Drive and Kite Lane, there was um something that happened, can, can you come get me?” He didn’t want to have to explain this. He didn’t like asking for help. But he wasn’t that much of an idiot. 

“Shit Yuri what – never mind I’m on my way but you better explain yourself!” With another curse, Flynn hung up the phone. 

It was probably only about ten minutes but it felt like an eternity. A cold drizzle tapped lightly on the ground around Yuri as he sat against the wall, a small overhanging stone protecting most of him from the rain. If not for the metallic tang in the air he probably would’ve forgotten about the events that had just transpired. It all seemed a little surreal that he would end up in the same place he had so desperately fought to escape years ago. Why had he come back here? There had been nothing left when he escaped but now there was no escape because he couldn’t just up and leave anymore. He couldn’t just get up and move again because now he had made a place for himself. Friends and Flynn. Oh god Flynn what would he think about all this? He didn’t want to face any possibility where they would have to discuss this, but he no longer had that luxury. 

“Yuri, oh god, Jesus Christ Yuri what happened? Actually never mind let’s just get you home come on.” Flynn’s worried face filled his field of vision. 

It took some effort but soon he was sitting in the car after Flynn had helped. The rest of the trip home was a daze between struggling to get back out of the car and into the building. Then into the elevator and out again. Finally down the hall and sitting down on the couch as both Repede and Flynn hovered worriedly. He was feeling a lot less out of it and less dizzy which was a plus but what was he going to tell Flynn? 

“Thank you.” 

“What was that?” Flynn called from the kitchen doorway as he walked over with bandages and an ice pack. 

“Thank you, Flynn.” God he must look so pathetic. How could he have been so stupid to let the kid grab his phone? This all could have been avoided if he had actually paid some fucking attention to his surroundings. When had he gotten so careless? 

“Yuri, what happened to you? What happened to your hand? Who did this to you?” Flynn slowly reached over and gently touched his fingers. Yuri grimaced. Shit it looked worse than he thought. It was probably broken from the looks of it. Which meant hospital visit time and to be completely honest he hated hospitals with his whole being. They did good work but he hated being there, too many bad memories. There was no other option though, unless—

“Flynn go grab that blastia I hid please.” It would work well enough to where there would only be bruising left. Anything would be better than the hospital though. 

“What? Why? What is that going to do? Yuri you need to go to the hospital!” Flynn’s entire body screamed worry from his voice to his face.

“Do you trust me?”

“What kind of bullshit questions is that Yuri? This isn’t up for debate, why do you insist on being so secretive all the time! Why can’t you trust me?” He flinched as Flynn’s voice rose. 

“What are you talking about? Of course I trust you!” He shoved Flynn back a bit with his left hand and stood up in defiance. He could take care of himself dammit. 

“No you don’t Yuri! You never let anyone in much less me. You keep all these secrets to yourself and never trust anyone enough to tell them something! I am sick and tired of watching you try to do everything on your own! Just let me help you for once!” Flynn retaliated. 

“I don’t need your protection I can take care of myself!” 

“I never said you couldn’t, I just want to help you! I DON’T WANT TO LOSE SOMEONE I LOVE AGAIN!” Flynn bellowed. Yuri took two small steps back.

“You, you love me?” His voice was unreasonably small. Flynn loved him. What… he couldn’t do this right now— not today after everything else that had happened— he couldn’t be here right now. Turning heel, he vaulted over the back of the couch and burst out onto the balcony. Rain blew sideways into his face but it was a cold wake up call to remind him that no one was after him. 

He didn’t know how much time had passed again till he heard the balcony door open. The rain had stopped by then leaving him shivering a little as the air chilled his wet clothes and hair. He stayed leaning over the railing, cradling his injured hand, as Flynn slowly came up beside him. Yuri eyed Flynn in his peripheral vision. Flynn was holding the blastia. Blinking a few times just to make sure he turned to Flynn and looked in shock. He actually got it, he went and got the blastia. 

“I don’t know what this will do, but you said to trust you so here.” Flynn held out the blastia towards him. 

Slowly Yuri reached forward with his injured hand and gently set it on top of the blastia with a small wince. Despite Flynn’s worried glance he merely shook his head and closed his eyes. 

Nothing seemed to happen at first but then came a soft melody. The wind seemed to stir and aid in the rising sound as the melody continued to fill the space around them. Opening his eyes, Flynn’s met his own through the warm glow between them. The chill in the air seemed to melt away. His hand stopped hurting as the blastia worked its magic. With a finally hum, the melody and lights faded away leaving his hand fully healed. He also no longer felt dizzy which meant it had probably healed his concussion too. 

“What, what was that? How did you, where did? Explain please.” Flynn grabbed his now healed hand and examined it closely. It was pretty surreal to see it for the first time. At least now he could actually think straight. Okay well at least he was no longer dizzy or distracted by the throbbing of his hand. 

“This is why I hid it. I can’t let it fall into the wrong hands. Someone entrusted it to me and I won’t fail them again. I want to trust you with everything I swear I do, but Flynn I haven’t had anyone in a long time.” 

“Well then that’s what I’m here for. To remind you that you aren’t alone.” 

The now clear night sky shimmered with stars above them. And as Yuri and Flynn went inside it seemed as if the stars were guiding them towards tomorrow. For the first time in forever maybe he had finally done something right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I could probably get this written faster if I could actually focus on it and not get distracted by other things like fefates. Curse you fates and your addictiveness!

**Author's Note:**

> Who knows what this is going to become but I'm ready to accept the challenge bc I think I can actually do something good with this so stay tuned!


End file.
